


Boys Will Be Bugs

by smile_it_will_get_better



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: AU, Artist Klaus, Attempted Kidnapping, Attempted Murder, Canon-Typical Violence, Cop Diego Hargreeves, Diego Hargreeves is Bad at Feelings, F/M, Good Brother Diego Hargreeves, Klaus Hargreeves Deserves Better, Klaus Hargreeves Needs A Hug, Literally just an excuse to write Diego and Klaus solving a mystery together ngl, M/M, Murder Mystery, Protective Diego Hargreeves, They have their comic book powers, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-13
Updated: 2019-04-07
Packaged: 2019-11-16 13:15:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 16
Words: 38,174
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18095006
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/smile_it_will_get_better/pseuds/smile_it_will_get_better
Summary: Klaus had been missing for a year.Ever since the fight Luther started and finished, Klaus had left without a trace, no sign of if he was alive or dead, safe or in danger. But after getting called down to LA to investigate a case with no leads, Diego is confronted with a familiar face he never thought he'd see again....Honestly, just an excuse to write a half fluffy half angsty story about Klaus and Diego solving a murder case together.





	1. I'm low on gas and you need a jacket

**Author's Note:**

> Okay this is a totally self indulgent story and I hope you guys enjoy it either way.

The apocalypse was averted. 

It was annoyingly simple thought, Allison went to find Vanya and told her all about her crazy boyfriend, and surprisingly Vanya listened, confronting Lenard about it and leaving shortly after. 

The day that was supposed to be the end of the world calmly passed, the earth keeping spinning despite it all. 

Klaus didn’t know what to do. 

His siblings didn’t either, they were all in the house together, living as strangers under the same roof. 

Or well he was still a stranger, the rest of them had grown closer, becoming better for each other. Allison was focusing on being a better sister, Luther a better leader. Vanya was learning how to control her new powers and get used to being loved, Five was dealing with the end of his obsession. Diego was dealing with his grief and trying to repair the bonds with Luther to the best of his ability. 

But Klaus? Klaus had no part in their new dynamic. He was still the useless brother, who was sober for the first time in years. Not that they noticed, but Klaus tried to ignore that part. But here he was, still crazy and alone except for the ghosts always hovering over his shoulder, both literal and metaphorically. 

Sure, there were the ghosts that would _never shut the fuck up_ , but there was also the memories of what he did. The people he killed in the war, Dave lying under him, dead eyes gazing up at him. 

It made him crave the sweet release of drugs or alcohol, the burn in his stomach and itch in his veins calling out at all times. It would be so easy, so simple to sneak out and get the high he craved. But Ben was still sitting beside him, urging him to stay strong, to think of Dave and his siblings. 

So he stayed clean for the first day, and that day turned into a week, then two weeks, until it had been two months and he was still sober as could be. It sucked, but he kept fighting, taking it day at a time. 

So despite feeling the craving digging under his skin after a Russian lady started singing horrible about her death, he showed up at family dinner. 

Family dinner, one of the worlds worst ideas in all of history. When all six (seven) of them gathered in the dinning room and ate the food Grace made them, talking softly and stiffly, getting along but really not wanting to spend anytime together, like most siblings. 

So here he was, a massive headache forming behind his eyes as he listened to Allison talk about some upcoming movie she was interested in doing. He was proud of her, he really was. She was an awesome actress and she deserved to get to roles she did, but his head was pounding, so excuse him for not really paying attention. 

“What about you Klaus?” Allison suddenly asked, snapping him from his little pity trip. “What are you planning to do?”

Honestly? He hadn’t even thought of it. He had been so immersed in getting and staying sober and learning how to controlling the rolling power under his skin to really think about it. But he could pull something out of his ass. 

“I might debate going to art school.” He blurted out, blinking as Allison smiled at him. “I’m not sure though, I’ll have to work hard for it.” 

“I believe in you Klaus, your a good artist.” She complimented, but her smile looked a bit strained, as if she didn’t believe the words she was saying. 

"You know, you have to be sober to go to school right?” Luther pointed out in that annoying voice he always did, and Klaus looked over to him in surprise. 

“What do you mean by that?” Klaus asked, feeling slightly defensive. Luther rolled his eyes, and Klaus wondered who had shit in his Wheaties that morning. 

“I mean that for you to do anything you need to get sober, which seems unlikely, so don’t keep your hopes up.” Luther said, and Allison reached over to slap him. 

“Be nice Luther.” She sighed, but the way she said it sounded like she didn’t believe in him either. Klaus put his fork down, pure anger rolling in his stomach. 

“I am sober asshole.” He ground out, placing his hand on the table his knuckles going white. 

“Sure Klaus, you haven’t been sober since you were thirteen. You don’t have to lie to us, we wanted to help.” Diego cut in with a dry laugh, and wow, he thought the two of them had been getting along. 

“I’m telling the truth. I’ve been sober two months now.” He protested, his eyes flickering over to Ben, who looked at him with a mixture of pity and anger. 

“Klaus,” Allison sighed, reaching across to touch his hand, but he pulled away from her, crossing his arms. She frowned at him. “I know it’s hard to admit, but we know your still struggling.” She said in the soft way of hers. 

“Struggling? Yeah. But high? Nope.” He said, ignoring the pound of his head and the sting of tears in his eyes. He blinked them down, this was such a stupid reason to get emotional about. Who cares if his siblings didn’t noticed only the biggest accomplishment he had made in his entire life? 

“You don’t know how to be sober Klaus.” Luther said, slamming his fork down. “You have been sitting here, taking up space and just being so ungrateful, hoping for attention and validation without doing anything. I’m sick of it.” 

Klaus paused, letting his emotions tumble around. Was that what they all really thought about him. 

“That asshole.” Ben hissed, standing behind Klaus now and glaring daggers at Luther. Klaus had to agree. 

“That’s not what I’m doing.” He defended quietly. 

“Really?” Luther asked, raising an eyebrow, and Klaus knew he was looking for a fight. “Because it looks like you sleep in our bed, eat our food, drink out water, waste our time without doing anything beneficial. Your useless here Klaus, and yet you think your obligated to everything.” 

Klaus was silent for a long time, waiting for someone to jump to his defence, for just one of them to stand up and tell him that he mattered, that they didn’t think of him as a waste of space. 

“Don’t listen to him Klaus, he’s being an asshole.” Ben tried, sounding slightly hopeless. Klaus felt the tear bubble up again, and he laughed. 

He laughed because that’s what he did best. He deflected and pretended like nothing hurt him. Like he was just a stupid junkie who was too high to let any of the blows land. But it hurt, hurt seeing how even after two months sober they still didn’t care. The last spark of hope that said that they would listen now, believe him now that he was clean, flickered out. Leaving him hollow and aching. 

“Sorry I’m such a burden on you Luther.” He hissed. “What happened to wanting to be more like me? More like the carefree number four? Or did that desire pass when the high crashed down?” Klaus asked, chest heaving with emotion. 

“You don’t belong here Klaus.” Luther said simply, ignoring the jab. “You never had.”

Well, there it was. The final shoe, the final nail in his coffin. He waited again, for anyone to speak up. Diego, Vanya, hell even Five. But they all just looked away, unwilling to go against Luther, good ole number one.

“Fine.” He said, sounding a lot calmer for the tears gathering in his eyes. He raised his ‘goodbye’ hand, turning away as the first tear rolled down his cheek and stormed from the room. He heard someone call out after him, but he ignored them, practically running to his room. 

He slammed the door, his vision blurring with tears as he stood there, ignoring the ache in his chest. 

He grabbed his bag numbly, opening it and throwing his favourite clothes inside. He then picked up the floor board, reaching in and pulling out the couple hundred he had saved in these two months. He also grabbed a few of his more worthwhile Knick knacks, thinking of what he could pawn off. 

“Klaus,” Ben said softly, walking up to him, his hand hovering over his shoulder but not touching. Not touching because Ben was dead. The only sibling that apparently cared about him was dead, couldn’t do anything to stop the world from shuddering and falling down around him. “I’m sorry.” 

Klaus laughed, hollow and dry. “Sorry does a lot.” He snapped, regretting it when Ben recoiled slightly. 

“Sorry, sorry. I’ll figure this out okay? Isn’t the first time I’ve been kicked to the streets.” He said without humor, finally grabbing his stash of non-perishables that he kept for this specific reason. Years of living in the streets taught him to always be ready, even when supposedly safe.

He then walked to the window, sliding it open like he used to when he was a little kid sneaking out to get high or drunk. He paused, one foot out the window as he gazed back into the room that had been his house for the past two and a half months. Gone now, he couldn’t stay here. 

couldn’t keep wasting the precious space his siblings needed. Like he was paying a tax for existing. 

He laughed, climbing out and imagining the comfort slamming it shut would give him. But instead he softly clicked it shut, slipping down to the ground and once again found himself out on the cold streets, alone and without a plan. 

That’s life I guess. 

________________________

Life worked in mysterious ways. 

As a child he expected life to be easy, where he could live and be happy and grow up to find love and marry with a nice job. 

But the ghosts came, drugs took over, Ben died and then Dave did too. 

Life is never what you planned, it’s moments that you don’t understand. All connecting in a way meant to screw you over. Switching and shifting as you tried to stay balanced. That’s his life he guessed. 

He couldn’t stay in the city. He used to, thinking there was a barrier he could never fully cross. He felt like the city was apart of him, breathing and living along beside him, but now, just the thought of staying here made a bad taste linger in his mouth. Made him feel nauseated and sick and unwanted. The city wasn’t his anymore, it was a stranger, tall and harsh as he walked through it. 

He was outrunning karma now. A charmer weaving his way through the city, making his way towards the bus stop. Where he would go after this he didn’t really know. But he was ready to run because he couldn’t hide here anymore. 

The bus reminded him of Dave. Of traveling back to Vietnam and fighting in a war he never thought he’d have to suffer through. It reminded him of the pain in his chest when he came back, the image of Dave’s lifeless body still burned on the backs of his eye lids. But he boarded it, giving the bus driver his money and telling him to get him the hell out of there. 

Ben sat in silence beside him, for once seeming too afraid to say anything to him. 

Klaus preferred it when he talked, because then he could stop replaying the last few hours in his mind. 

Would stop seeing Luther’s disappointed look, the way Allison didn’t believe him when he said he would go to school. Would remember the silence that filled the room when he waiting for someone, anyone to support him. To say that they cared about him, that he was just as important. 

But he wasn’t. He was just another mistake, a fuck-up that would keep messing up over and over again until he died or, well, got murdered. 

Klaus felt the tear bite his eyes again, and he squeezed them shut, ignoring the betrayal and grief deep inside his chest. He wanted to sob, to scream and yell at someone. But he was alone with his dead brother. So instead he waited on the bus, staring at nothing as he left behind the only home, other than Vietnam, that he had. 

He would do better. Would prove that he was something more than a useless junkie that could see the dead. He would stay clean, despite the voice telling him it didn’t matter anymore, he would make a life for himself and improve this horrid mess. 

Show Luther and Allison and Diego that he was more than a mistake. Than a waste of space. He would prove them wrong. 

He stepped out of the bus the next morning, walking into the city and towards what felt like spite. 

_________________________

 

It had been a year since he last saw Klaus. 

He remembered the night perfectly, had gone over it in his mind over and over again. 

He remembered starting a fight with Luther earlier that day, something petty but big enough to loosen the bonds he had been working on fixing. It had pissed Luther off badly, and he was looking for a target, someone to fight with. 

Normally it would have been him, but again, they had been working on being better to each other, so the next target was Klaus. 

Klaus who came down in what looked like pain, who zoned out and stared at the wall like it would explode. Allison tried to include him, because they were all talking but he was just sitting there. And Klaus admitted his ambitions on getting a better education. Diego thought it was stupid. 

Luther did too. But instead of biting his tongue like Diego did he snapped, shooting glares and insults at Klaus with no remorse. Diego remembered seeing the hurt look in his brothers’ eyes, the confusion to why he was suddenly getting attacked.

If Diego was being honest, he still wasn’t sure if Klaus was really sober. At the time it seemed unlikely, he was always leaving the house, keeping to himself and well, Klaus was never good at avoiding temptation. So Diego said something too, because he was still annoyed at the fight and just like Luther had decided, Klaus was the easiest person to fight with. 

Diego remembered the betray in Klaus’s eyes, the way his lips wavered and tears filled his eyes. He remembered how Klaus’s eyes looked around the table as Luther said that he was a waste of space, a burden to them all. He remembered Klaus waiting for someone to speak up, to defend him. 

But Diego didn’t want to make Luther any more pissed at him than he was, Allison wasn’t sure what to say, Vanya still hated confrontation, and Five couldn’t care less, Klaus could fight his own battles. 

They all thought the same at some point, he knew that too. He knew that none of them ever took Klaus seriously, because he was always lying, always deceiving, always hiding. So they all kept quiet, and with a final wave of his hand Klaus was storming out and Diego tried to forget the tears he saw running down his brother’s cheek. Allison was immediately scolding Luther, calling out for Klaus to come back so they could talk. Klaus never returned. 

Diego just thought he went to his room to brood, that he would be out the next day and they would all pretend the dinner never happened. Diego thought Klaus was just throwing a temper tantrum like he always did. 

But Klaus didn’t come back the next morning, or afternoon. In fact, Klaus didn’t come back the next day, or the next, and it took a week before Diego was properly concerned. 

He went out looking, thinking that Klaus had simply found himself in some trouble and was just coming down from a high. But Klaus wasn’t in any of his usual haunts, no one had seen him for weeks. The rest of the siblings were concerned as well, Luther wallowing in guilt. 

Despite what Diego previously thought, Luther didn’t actively try to harm others, or put them down. It was simply that there was so much stress on him that he barely even realized he was doing it. So when Klaus didn’t turn up even after months of searching, Luther was feeling pretty crappy. 

After half a year Diego gave up. He didn’t know where Klaus was, if Klaus was even still alive, but it seemed like he wasn’t going to turn up anytime soon. But he never fully forgot about it, and every time a Junkie was found dead he would go look, just to make sure.

Either way, he started on with his life. It took a while to get over his grief and issues, but slowly he started getting back into the rhythm of things, even getting accepted back into the police academy because apparently someone in the precinct put in a few good words for him. 

So he was now officially a cop, living out his dreams and finally content with what he had. He was still close with his siblings, they met up every month for a family dinner. 

Vanya had gotten the first chair in her theater, playing and teaching lessons on the side. She had even written a few more books, mostly children’s books filled with imagination and creativity. Luther worked at a lumber shop, earning his keep while he took up multiple hobbies on the side. 

Allison continued her lavish acting career, gaining partial custody of Claire and staying friendly with Patrick. She stayed in town a lot though, visiting Vanya and Luther and occasionally him and Five. 

Five had continued on to become a child genius, shocking many teachers as he graduated university at the age of fourteen, or well, sixty-something. He now works as a mathematician, doing whatever those people did. Diego never bothered to check. 

And Klaus, well Klaus was still gone. Disappeared without a trace, similar to how Five did all those years ago. Diego still thought of him, the guilt taking him over as he went over all the mistakes he made with his brother. Not trusting him, not taking him seriously, not considering his trauma. His seat at family dinners was still left, empty beside where Ben used to sit. Their gazes would always linger on it when they gathered, the guilt evident in all their eyes as they thought of what they did wrong. 

It had been a year since he last saw Klaus, and months since he thought of him longer than a lingering memory at the back of his mind. He had given up on ever seeing him again, a small part of him believing that his brother had died a long time ago. 

Then he was called across the country for a special case, a triple homicide that had absolutely no leads or clues at all. The academy decided to send him and his partner Officer Jake, most likely because Diego managed to piss them off. Or maybe it was because the two of them were their top detectives in the past year, and they desperately needed fresh eyes on this case. 

Either way, the trip down was beyond boring. Just a lot of flying and Jake's crappy music, Diego briefly missed Klaus’s taste in music, his playlists never failed to keep him entertained. He shook the memory out of his mind. 

He pulled up to the crime scene late that day, going over the protocol with ease. 

They weren’t kidding when they said it would be hard. Three middle-aged people, two girls, and one boy, their necks all slit. No weapon, fingerprints, or DNA left at the scene. Their fingertips were slashed, and their chests were bloody without any wounds visible. Diego was stumped, but he collected all that he could and headed out. 

Jake offered to get food, telling him to go on a walk for some fresh air or some shit like that. Diego didn't really care. He hadn’t been out of state much, so the chance to explore outside of work was snatched up immediately. 

The city was beautiful, the buildings ranged between tall and short, their shiny glass windows reflecting the light. The buildings were old and new, the styles differing. Rolling hills and busy streets, people milling around, soaking in the sunshine. So unlike the old and cramp city he called home. 

Diego wandered along, slightly hot in his black leather that he wore when he wasn’t wearing his uniform. He observed everyone around him, watching the smiling faces and happy families Couples walking down the street holding hands and the people in business attire talking on their phones. He let the sounds wash over him, before something he heard made his heart stop. 

A soft laugh, one he could barely hear over the hustle of the city. But he knew that laugh, the way it sounded like it came from deep inside his stomach, sounding true and genuine. Not fake like many other peoples. The laugh Diego had honestly almost forget, the laugh he used to love and hate hearing. 

His heart pounded and his mouth went dry as he stopped and turned, his eyes searching the streets until it locked onto him. 

_Klaus._

Klaus, his brother who had been missing for over a year was standing just a street over, laughing and smiling with a pretty girl on his arm. He was twirling her, her dress flowing out around her, looking carefree and happy. Diego couldn’t remember the last time he saw Klaus look genuinely happy. 

He looked so different. But there was no mistaking him. His skin wasn’t pale anymore, but tanned and healthy-looking. He had finally filled in a bit, still looking like a stick but this timeless like he hadn’t eaten a good meal in years. He was wearing a tie-dyed crop top, tight jean shorts and a hairband pulling his curls away from his face. 

But he looked content, staring at the girl with what looked like adoration, smiling as he made her spin again before she stumbled into his arms, her eyes catching Diego’s and her smile fell from her face. 

She said something to Klaus, looking worried as she glanced back over to Diego, who was still standing shocked in the middle of the sidewalk. Klaus frowned down at her, before turning and meeting Diego’s eyes. 

They were a street away from each other, separated by only a year of not seeing each other and two little lanes filled with passing cars. And yet it felt like a million miles, like Klaus was so out of reach from him. 

Diego stepped forwards, ready to dart across the street just to get to his brother. But Klaus turned away, said something to the girl beside him, and walked towards him instead. Weaving in between the cars that just stopped for him like this was a usual occurrence. 

Then Klaus was standing in front of him, the lady standing a couple of steps behind, looking suspicious. And Diego wanted to move, to reach over and hug Klaus or something like that. But he was frozen in space, staring at the brother he figured was dead in a ditch for years. 

“Diego.” Klaus said quietly, his voice soft and sad. “Nice to see you again bro.”


	2. Devil town

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter will be in Klaus's perspective so we can see what he's been up to during the past year.

Diego wasn’t really sure how he ended up back in the small apartment five minutes later, but really this day was just filled with surprises. 

Klaus had ushered him there, saying something about how a family reunion shouldn’t happen in the middle of a busy LA street. Diego agreed, to shell shocked by his brother being there to really protest. The trio entered the apartment soon after, Klaus tossing his keys onto the counter and standing back as Diego surveyed the area. 

The apartment was, _nice_ , small what appeared to only be a kitchen and living area, two bedrooms, and a bathroom. But it was so Klaus that it made Diego’s chest ache. The walls were an off-white color, but splatters of colors and random illustrations littered it, Diego knowing his brother drew them all. The furniture was simple, but sketchbooks and pillows littered around them, organized chaos. 

He couldn’t see the inside of the bedrooms, but Diego imagined it would contain every bit of Klaus eccentric and vibrant personality. He turned back to his brother, who was studying him with worried eyes. 

Diego forgot how expressive Klaus’s eyes were. How the green in them would change with every emotion, and you could catch every single feeling in them if you looked hard enough. Right now they were worried, scared, hesitant, everything Diego never associated with his brother. 

“I still can’t believe you’re here.” Diego breathed out, taking all of Klaus in once again. 

Klaus chuckled softly, turning to pour a pitcher of lemonade for them. He took a long sip as he passed the cool glass to Diego. 

“I can say the same as you. I thought moving across the country would deter you assholes from showing up at my door.” Klaus said casually, and Diego felt the sting of guilt and shame once again. He and his siblings literally made Klaus flee across the country just so he could get away from them. 

“But here I am.” Diego said, slightly breathlessly. Klaus grinned at him.

“Yes, here you are. Speaking of that, what brings you down here to my humble city?” Klaus asked leaning back. The girl, who he still didn’t know the name of for some reason, was moving around the living room, glancing at Diego every now and then. 

“Work, a special case. I got a job at the precinct. After Patch, left, there was an opening. They gave it to me.” Diego explained, ignoring the twist of grief when he mentioned Eudora’s name. 

“Congrats bro!” Klaus said, walking over and clapping Diego on the shoulder before continuing on. “Always knew you’d get that job.” 

“But that’s not the important part here.” Diego pointed out. “What are you doing here Klaus?” He demanded, crossing his arm. 

“I live here, duh.” Klaus responded, flopping onto the couch next to the girl, who smacked his arm. 

“You know what I mean Klaus, you disappeared without any trace, hell I thought you were dead!” His voice raised slightly, breaking slightly on the last word as he took a deep breath. “A note or a nice phone call telling us that you were alive and safe would have been appreciated.” He finished lamely. 

Klaus’s face was stormy. 

“I thought you guys said I didn’t belong?” Klaus shot back, the hurt from their parting a year ago thrown in Diego’s face. 

Diego sighed. “We never actually meant that. Luther was just frustrated and-“

“That’s your excuse? Then what about the countless other times you guys forgot about me or treated me like shit? Don’t you think I deserved an out? A shot?” Klaus cut him off, and Diego had never seen his brother so angry. He felt like he was staring at a stranger. 

“It’s no excuse.” He said softly. “We messed up, badly. But, I’m willing to try and be better now. So tell me all about what you’ve been doing this year. Starting with whoever this is,” He said, waving his arm at the girl. “is she your girlfriend?” He asked carefully. 

Both Klaus and the girl stared at him before breaking into laughter, making his cheeks warm as they laughed at him. 

“Girlfriend!” The girl cried, shaking with giggles. “No more than you’re his boyfriend. My names Kisa, I’m a friend of his.” She introduced herself, sticking out a hand for him to shake. 

He accepted it, nodding his hello and ignoring the fact that Klaus was still laughing. 

“She’s more like a sister, known her since the first night I stepped foot in the town. She’s helped me get my shit in order.” Klaus said, flinging an arm over her shoulder. 

Diego was glad Allison or Vanya wasn’t here to watch this, to see Klaus be friendlier to this girl he’d known for a year than his actual sisters. But Diego pushed that thought away. 

“She must have been quite the person to put up with all your shit, let alone help you get it in order.” He commented dryly, relishing in the offended look he got. He missed this, the bantering, the jabs, the act of just sitting and talking to Klaus. 

“She’s something.” Klaus mumbled, pulling the girl closer until her blonde head was resting on his shoulder. “But I’ve made a life here. Bet you never thought I’d do that.” Klaus said with a proud smile, looking almost spiteful. 

Diego deserved it, because he didn’t think that Klaus could do it. He never thought that Klaus would be able to get his life together and actually do something with it, 30 years of habit don’t just break that easily. But here Klaus was, appearing t be sober and happy, living a stable life. 

“What do you do for work?” Diego asked, trying to ignore the disappointment he felt in himself. 

“Artist, I sell most of my art for my prophet. Then I also work in a salon to make ends meet, it turns out I’m pretty good at hair.” Klaus said, the proud smile still fixed on his lips. “I made some friends, got sober, started a life. I got a cat too, but he’s off wandering somewhere like usual.” 

Diego nodded, not trusting himself to speak over the lump in his throat. 

“Turns out LA is just my place huh?” Klaus said with a smile, and Diego nodded. 

“I’m proud of you.” He whispered, his voice sounding a lot less strong than he wanted it to sound. Klaus seemed to catch it, looking surprised. 

“Thank you.” He replied after a moment. “Do you want to stay for dinner? Catch up some more?” Klaus asked, looking slightly hopeful. 

“I would love that.” Diego said with a grin. “I’ll have to run back to my hotel first, check-up with my partner.”

“That works perfectly,” Kisa said, clapping her hands together. “Klaus was going to walk me home, then he needs to actually pick up food because he’s terrible at remembering that. You both should have enough time for those.” She stood up, and Diego mirrored her, not wanting to be on uneven ground here. 

She stuck out her hand one more time, and Diego shook it. “It was nice to meet you Diego, I’ve heard a lot about you.” She said, before turning and marching out of the room to get her stuff. Klaus and him were alone. Diego swallowed turning to his brother, who was staring at him with emotionless eyes. 

“I’ll see you in an hour?” Diego said hesitantly, already off-kilter. 

“Okay.” Klaus said softly, turning and meeting Kisa at the door and walking out. 

Diego followed obediently. 

_____________________________

“Diego!” Allison greeted, her voice crackling over the phone. “How was the trip? Sorry, we just missed you, the plane landed an hour after you left.” 

Diego smiled, relaxing at the sound of his sister’s voice. He could hear Claire and what sounded like Luther and Vanya in the background, their voices chattering in the background. 

“It was good, listen I need to talk to you about something I found here.” Diego said, forcing past their normal pleasantries. 

“Of course, what’s wrong? Did something happen?” Allison asked, and he heard his other siblings go silent at her concern. 

“Well, not really.” He admitted, letting the exhaustion from the day seep in. He spent it traveling, working, and then found his missing brother who he presumed dead for months. “I saw something here when walking around, you might want to sit down.” He warned. 

“Spit it out Diego.” She snapped, sounding worried and concerned. 

Diego took a deep breath, closing his eyes as he let the words flow out of his mouth. 

“I found Klaus.” 

The silence on the end of the phone stretched on for a while. 

“What?” Allison said after a long moment, sounding slightly tearied. “How? What? When?” She stammered, and Diego could hear what sounded like Luther asking what was going on. 

“I saw him walking down the streets, he’s been here the entire time. I have dinner with him in thirty minutes Allison.” He laughed wetly. “He’s alive.” 

“Oh my god.” Allison said, muffled as she sobbed. There was a slight scuffle before someone else took over the phone. 

“Diego?” Luther’s gruff voice asked, and Diego could hear Allison sobbing softly through the phone. “What’s going on?”

“I found Klaus.” He blurted out, finding it easier to say the second time. “He’s alive Luther. He’s alive.” 

There was silence again before Luther spoke again. 

“How? Are you sure?” Luther asked, sounding shocked. 

“I talked to him for a bit, it’s him. He’s sober, had a job, he’s thriving Luther.” Diego said with a laugh. “We fucked up.” 

“Yeah.” Luther said, sounding at a loss for words. “Is-is he really okay?”

Diego had never heard Luther sound so small, so nervous. 

“I think so. I’m meeting up with him again soon. I’ll update you all. Can you tell the others what I said? I gotta go.” Diego said, finally entering his hotel. 

“Yeah, yeah of course. Go be with him, tell us everything. Make sure he’s safe.” Luther ordered, before pausing for a moment. “And if you need us to come down just ask. I’d love to see him again.” Then he was gone, hanging up quickly. 

Diego collapsed on his bed, taking a deep breath and just relaxing for a moment. He was used to chaotic things, but he just wanted to sleep for a few hours. Or days. Whatever worked best. 

After five minutes of just laying there, the door clicked open again and Diego quickly looked up to see his partner walk into the room. 

“What’s up Diego? Enjoy the city?” Jake asked, grinning. Diego couldn’t have asked for a better partner. Sure, Jake was sometimes a tiny bit too energetic for him, but otherwise, he was the best he could get. Serious and smart, making connections quick and pretty good in the field too. 

“Sort of, I can’t stay for dinner. I saw someone I knew and decided to get dinner with them. Leaving in ten.” Diego said, finally sitting up with a groan. Jake rolled his eyes. 

“Seriously? You make me go out to get you food and then ditch me? Fine, I get it. I’ll just eat my Chinese takeout all by myself.” Jake pouted, throwing the food onto the table with a soft plop. Diego just grinned. 

“Sorry.” He said, not feeling very sorry. Jake shrugged, pulling out some of the food. 

“So, who is so important that you're ditching your very important partner for?” Jake asked, his back turned as he pulled out the food he bought himself. 

“My brother.” Diego said, watching as Jake stilled for a moment before continuing. 

“I thought Luther and Five were back at home?” He said carefully. “And Ben’s dead.” 

Diego blinked, because oh yeah, he never told Jake about Klaus. 

“My other brother, he ran away a year ago.” Diego said carefully. 

“How many fucking siblings do you have? Your poor mother.” Jake said, finally turning around with a fork in his mouth, muffling his voice. 

“Seven, our mom was busy.” He said with a laugh, his chest warming slightly like it always did when he talked about Grace. “I got to go, Klaus is waiting.” He said, grabbing his jacket and shrugging it on as he left without another word. 

The city was getting dark now, the hour late. Lights were shining around and really he forgot the stories about how LA really came alive at night. He wondered at the beginning why Klaus would come here, but he could see his brother everywhere he looked. The flashing lights, the smiling lights, the people high on life, laughing and giddy with every moment they existed here. He could see Klaus fitting in perfect, his unique way of living blending in with the other eccentric people living here. 

The city was laid back, calm and flowing like time moves differently. The people here seemed to drift around in a haze, their sun-kissed skin shining as they wandered, stars living in their eyes. It left Diego in awe, the way everyone moved around here. The perfect city to run away to.

Diego swallowed, reaching the block of Klaus’s apartment and pushing down the lump in his throat. This was the night of catching up, of meeting Klaus again and finally catching up on life with his brother. 

Maybe he could fix the mistakes he made while he was at it.


	3. Banana Bread

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I split this up into two chapters because it was getting too long. So stayed tuned for the actual dinner scene is next chapter. 
> 
> But I wrote around 7,000 words for this chapter and it all got deleted so I angrily rewrote this. So if it's really bad that's because I wrote this while filled with spite. ANd it is not as good as I want it to be but eh whatever you guys can suffer through it with me.

When Klaus ran away, the last place he expected to go was to LA. Mostly because it was halfway across the country, but as soon as he stepped into the city he knew instantly that this was it. 

He had been wandering from city to city for almost a month, never settling down anywhere. Every time he tried something in his chest would tighten and tug until he was leaving again, buying a bus ticket with whatever money he could scrape up. 

It was hard, he spent 90% of the time trying to resist falling back into drugs, the itch under his skin calling out to him all the time, Ben being the only reason he didn’t find the closest deals and find a way to numb it all. 

After a month filled with spite and wandering, he found his way to LA, and it was like something inside of him that had been missing had finally be filled. He had always been a dreamer as a child, restless energy pooling under his skin and bubbling up the longer he stayed still. He would often go out into the courtyard for walks, trying to find whatever was missing. But it never helped, there was still a string wrapped around his heart, tugging him towards somewhere far away. 

He learned how to deal with it, tuning out the ache the same way he tried to tune out the worst of the calls from the dead. But then he fell into drugs and alcohol, and the feeling was numbed. Soothed over by the substances he pumped into his body. 

But ever since he was sober it was back, pulling and tugging him along, urging him to keep moving to keep looking. And when he finally walked into the city of angels it was like everything clicked into place. The empty hole in his chest dissipated as he breathed in, and for the first time in a while, he felt like home. 

Sure, things weren’t going well, he lived in a motel for the first few weeks, he was depressed, suffering and had no job. 

Then one day he was wandering outside some random salon, and a pretty girl with white-blonde hair walked outside, asking him if he wanted a free haircut. He didn’t refuse, and he was beyond grateful that he didn’t. That’s the day he met Kisa, and the day that some miraculous being was wishing him luck. 

After an hour of chatting, she offered him a job and within a month he had a small apartment to call his home and a steady job. 

Kisa taught him everything he needed to know, and pretty soon he was one of their best hairstylists. Customers would not only come in for his sense of style and creative ways of styling hair but his humor and eccentric presence. He became well known in the community, and even met some pretty close friends. 

But none of them came close to how important Kisa became to him. She was the one who showed him the ropes, led him around the city and taught him everything he needed to know. She was his best friend, his sister, the person he could trust more than anything. They were inseparable, two peas in a pod. 

She was the person who saw him at his worst, when the cravings were so bad he would sob and beg to get a fix. When the ghosts wouldn’t shut up and he couldn’t banish them, so he was left sitting alone at home with fifty million lamps, she was there holding him, not understanding but willing to try. When he got so depressed and anxious he couldn’t leave bed she would drop off food and 

She would come over almost every day, if not to chat then to just sit on his couch without saying a thing or dropping off some groceries or some random thing she knew he would like. He got so used to her presence it was weird not to be around her. The employees at the coffee shop where he went everyday looked uneasy every time he went without her, like he was a six-year-old without a mom in sight. 

Six months in he was living in a stable house, with a steady job, he had friends and a life. If only his family could see him now. 

Around six months in he managed to gather up enough money to buy some art supplies. Nothing special, just a sketchbook and some more professional pencils, because art supplied were fucking expensive. 

As a child, he would constantly draw. All over his walls, he would paint picture after picture, even when his father would cover them up with fresh coats of paint every couple of months. When he was smaller it was simple things to distract him from the ghosts wandering around, following him. He would write whatever little thought came to mind too, the pictures and words blending into each other. 

As he got older he would draw when he was high, whimsical drawings with bright colors and fantastical styles. Sweeping strokes that took up the entire wall, smooth and beautiful despite him shaking from the high. He would draw when having a panic attack too, when there were no drugs or alcohol to quiet the screaming. Those were smaller, shaky and dark. Small even strokes filled with dark colors and frightening figures, nightmares brought to life. 

But now, now he drew anything he could. He drew Ben leaning against the wall with a half-smirk on his lips. (It took him five minutes just to convince Ben to stand still for him.) He drew the view from his window, a small street with a couple of cars driving past. (It took him three hours to do that one because he had to keep stopping to wave at every person who walked by and compliment their outfit.) Hundreds of Dave in multiple poses, dragging up his favorite memories to place them on paper. (He always ended up either laughing or crying at the end, his dog tags hanging heavily against his chest.) 

Kisa found his book a month after he bought it, flipping through the pages and cooing at all the different photos, commenting on how realistic they were. He just smiled and didn’t mention it when a package filled with new supplies arrived on his door the next day. 

He started painting larger size paintings, selling them just for fun. Surprisingly they actually ended up making a lot of money, and he gained a bit of a fanbase, people buying his art for either the eccentric view or the heartbreaking aspects. 

(His most popular piece was a large painting of Dave standing on a hill with the sun setting around him, his helmet on his head and gun held limply in his arms. It was a memory from the last day they spent together, Dave dying shortly after.)

A year had passed since he ran around from his family and their home, when the bitter words left a chunk of him missing, a wound that festered and turned into spite, the need to do better, to prove them wrong. Now here he was, with a life. 

He wasn’t some useless junkie anymore, he had a job and money and friends. He was sober for the longest time since he was fourteen and he had a grasp on his powers. But above all he was _happy_. Not the artificial high happy he used to be. No, he was honest to god happy with his life. He would go out and let the sun kiss his skin, let the city flow around him, go to those stupid shops that made him sugary waffles and he could laugh. He would laugh as Kisa would twirl around and make funny faces, he would laugh and coo at the cute dog and baby he passed. He would go outside and live life, feel like he had something worth living. 

He had finally cut all ties from his family, and yeah sure there were some hiccups, but overall things were okay. 

So when he was out one day with Kisa, twirling her in the new dress she just bought, the last person he expected to see across the street staring at his was Diego. 

Well shit. 

________________________________

Klaus never should have agreed to this stupid dinner. 

He should have lied and said he had plans, then ran and hid somewhere else for a month until Diego was long gone and he could pretend none of this happened. 

But he agreed, and he wasn’t sure why he did. 

Maybe it was the glare Kisa gave him, the puppy dog eyes Diego was making, or the warm feeling in his chest when he saw his brother again for the first time. 

So here he was, throwing some random ingredients into a pot and hoping that it would turn out into something editable. 

Klaus was never a cook, in fact, he pretty much never ate in for dinner. His specialty was breakfast foods, sickly sweet food covered in syrup. But apparently that was an acceptable thing to make for dinner so he was stuck making something that resembled pasta. 

He remembered Grace making something similar to this, some garlic pasta with a crap ton of cheese that Klaus thought was okay but Diego loved. Maybe if he distracted Diego with a nice meal he wouldn’t talk to him, and then Klaus wouldn’t have to reply and it wouldn’t be a mess. 

He sighed, pouring the pasta into two bowls and placing them in the oven to stay warm while he waits for Diego. 

He stands there for a minute, feeling the familiar feeling crawling in his bones, the restlessness and worry that had been plaguing him ever since he got sober. He paced around a bit, before grabbing his sketchbook and some pencils and falling back onto the couch. Drawing a random flower he saw on the walk earlier. 

He had always dreamed of this moment. When he was wandering from town to town, resisting the urge to tuck tail and run back home was hard. He dreamed of going back, what he would say. Would he scream at them? Would he beg for forgiveness? Would he just cry? He planned out scenario after scenario, what he would say in different instances. 

But every time he seriously thought of it the memories of their last conversation would surface, the pain and betray would sting. He would remember Luther’s harsh words, the way the other silently agreed with him, raising no protests. He didn’t belong there, he wasn’t one of them anymore. And yeah it hurt, like hell really, but he managed. 

But here he was, Diego about to show up for dinner and Klaus had no clue how to react. 

He drew a line to hard and quickly grabbed an eraser, rubbing at the paper. 

It was hard to think of the upcoming occasion. How should he act? Talk? What was safe to say and what wasn’t? Did Diego hate him for suddenly disappearing? He didn’t seem like it, but what did Klaus know. It was unfair how this all was happening. 

He was happy god damn it. Had finally cut the last tie to his past life, forgotten about the trauma and horrors he dealt with. He was coping, content with life, then Diego crashed it. Deciding to crash into his perfect life and suddenly bring a tidal wave of resurfaced betrayal and hurt. It was unfair, what did he do to deserve this? Why was he the one who always drew the short stick?

“What did the flower ever do to you?” Ben asked from where he was sitting on the back of the couch, snapping Klaus out of his inner monologue. He looked down at his picture, where he had forgotten to stop aggressively erasing. The paper was slightly torn, the entire thing ruined. He mourned the loss for a second, such a pretty thing destroyed by aggression and thoughtlessness. 

“Screw off Ben.” Klaus muttered, tossing the book to the side and leaning back to glance at the clock. Diego was five minutes late the bitch. 

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Ben asked, a bit softer than usual. “Because I have a feeling this won’t end up well.” 

“Are any of my ideas good ones?” Klaus shot back, and Ben huffed a laugh. 

“Nope, cause your stupid.” 

“Hurtful.” Klaus said, pressing a hand to his chest dramatically, but he could feel the nerves retreating with every second of their usual banter. 

“Hey, if Socrates could make a career out of calling people stupid, so can I.” Ben said, and Klaus stuck his tongue out at him. “But seriously Klaus, I’ll be here if you need it. If he gets too annoying just manifest me and I’ll yell at him or something.” 

“My knight in ghostly armor.” Klaus mumbled, leaning down when he felt a small ball of fluff rub against his leg. Midnight had finally decided to show up. His little ball of fluff purring heavily and looking up at Klaus like he hadn’t been missing for a good two days. 

“Hey you little sweet bastard.” Klaus cooed, picking him up and cuddling him to his chest like he was a cute white stuffed animal. They sat there in silence, Klaus petting his cat and Midnight purring contently in his owner's’ arms. 

Ten minutes later Diego finally knocked on the door, a good thirty minutes late. Klaus grumbled, shooing Midnight away and clambering to his feet to pull open the door. 

“I got lost.” Diego said, not even bothering to properly apologize before he pushed himself into the apartment and made himself at home. 

Klaus took a deep breath and closed his eyes, softly clicking the door shut. 

It was going to be a long night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave a comment I live for interactions with you guys cause your all so lovely


	4. Another One of Those Days

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The long awaited dinner:)

The first five minutes of dinner was eaten in complete silence. 

Normally Klaus would be talking up a storm, chatting about everything and anything. But now the pounding in his heart and nonstop turning of his brain made him keep silent, daring Diego to make the first move. 

In the meantime they sat and ate the pasta he made, which wasn’t actually that bad. Sure it got a bit congealed after Diego decided to be horribly late, but hey it was better than the bag of McDonald's he was planning on having.

“The food is good.” Diego said, breaking the uneasy silence that surrounded them. 

“One single year has passed and this is the boring small talk we’re reduced to.” Klaus said back. “Disappointing bro, honestly.”

Diego frowned obviously not expecting that out of him. Well surprise Diego, it’s been a year and he’s filled with spite. 

Klaus didn’t actually fully understand why this was so different this time. They had gone years without seeing each other, the longest time five years, and they always fell right back into their usual pattern as soon as they were together again. They would go right back to being the pain in the ass and the no-nonsense siblings with a soft heart. 

But now? It felt like he was sitting across from a stranger. Not the man he grew up with and spent years fighting and living with. This version of Diego was different, someone completely new. Or maybe it was him that changed, him that was the odd one out, upsetting the balance of it all. 

The silence fell again, Diego dropping his gaze and staring at the plate looking like Midnight did when Klaus refused to give him a second dinner. 

“I’m glad you like it.” Klaus said after a minute, softening his voice and trying to be a bit less of an asshole. Sure Diego deserved it, but if this was the last time they saw each other for a while the last thing he wanted was to spend it angrily. 

“How is everyone?” Klaus asked hesitantly. 

Despite it all, he didn’t hate his siblings. He long ago accepted that yeah, they were assholes most of the time, but they were family. So he worried about them, wondered how they were doing. The occasional Facebook post or tv interview wasn’t enough. 

“They’re good.” Diego said, sounding slightly surprised. “They all have their lives back on track now. But I’m not here to talk about them. I want to know about you.”

Klaus took a deep breath, his eyes flickering behind Diego to where Ben was currently sitting, giving him two thumbs up.

“I’m fine.” He started, plotting out what to say. “I already told you my work I think, but I’ve been enjoying my life here. Works fun, I have some nice friends, and god the parties here are wild.” 

“I thought you said you were sober?” Diego said, his voice tinged with the familiar quiet disappointment that made Klaus stop. 

He grit his teeth, breathing to get his emotions under control, not to think of the sound of disappointment he had lived with his entire life. 

“I am sober.” He snapped. “I’ve been sober for over a year no thanks to you. It is possible to have a good time without drugs and alcohol you know.” 

“In Los Angles?” Diego asked with a doubtful look. 

“Look Diego,” Klaus stated, leaning forwards. “It’s been a while since we’ve talked, so I’ll let you out a bit easy. But I am sober, I am coping. You have no idea how fucking hard it has been for me to get here, so I’d love it if you stop being a condescending asshole for five minutes so I can enjoy my dinner.” 

With that Klaus stabbed a noodle, bringing it up and stuffing it in his mouth, ignoring the burn of emotion in his eyes. 

He thought he was over this, the childish need for his siblings to love and accept him. The hurt that stung in his chest every time they belittled him. He guessed that the feeling never went away, never lessened. He stabbed his fork down again, his hurt manifesting into anger like it always did. 

The anger that rushed through his veins, pins and needles pricking his skin as he let the emotion flood through him.

“Calm down Klaus. Control it.” Ben said, a lot closer now, looking worried and his hand hovering over Klaus’s shoulder despite not being corporal. 

He nodded, not wanting to talk because then Diego would get weirded out. Explaining that the ghost of your dead brother was chilling with them was not a conversation he wanted to have. 

“Tell me more about your art.” Diego said moments later, and now that was a surprise. He was expecting fake interest throughout the dinner, a lot of awkward silences, and maybe him crying once or twice, but not Diego actually sounding interested in Klaus’s life. 

“Um, well I got into it a few months ago. I’ve sold a lot of them for money, but I mostly just like to sketch. It helps me relax, a nice healthy alternative.” Klaus said, slightly off-kilter. He wasn’t used to explaining his hobbies to anyone, they all just kind of accepted them. 

“Can I see some?” Diego blurted out, then bit his lip and looked down like he regretted it. “I mean, you don’t, pretend I didn’t say anything.” He mumbled. 

“Sure, you can have a look.” He said with a smile, laughing slightly as he waved a hand. The pins and needles formed again, electricity buzzing under his skin, the air around him got a little thicker. Within seconds and a bit of concentration, his favorite sketchbook flouted across the room and into his hand. Klaus handed it over without a thought. 

Diego was staring at him, his mouth hanging open slightly as he stared at Klaus in amazement. 

Oh, whoops?

He forgot that Diego had been missing during the year he spent developing his powers, new and old. He wasn’t there while Klaus sat in his room, sweating from work and crying as the overwhelming feeling covered him. Diego wasn’t there as Ben coached him through learning how to control the newfound power, watching as Klaus shakily managed to call objects a few feet away into his hand. Diego wasn’t there when he finally learned how to banish or quiet the ghost naturally, wasn’t there to watch as Klaus cried over the first true silence he had gotten in years. 

Learning how to harness his powers was hard, and he was still learning how, but he was getting there. Diego luckily did not mention it right away, but the look in his eyes said they would be getting into that at some point. For now, he grabbed the sketchbook and started flipping through. 

Feeling self-conscious Klaus picked up their empty plates and threw them into the sink, hovering behind Diego and watching his brother scroll through the images. There were many images of random people walking down the streets, some shots of a pretty flower arrangement he got when he had the flu, and then Diego stopped flipping and stared down at a single image. 

It was a picture of Ben, laying down on the kitchen table with a book in his hands, on leg hanging over the edge and the other propped up on the sink. Just one of the random, weird positions his brother relaxed in when reading. 

“How do you draw him so perfectly? Like he’s there?” Diego asked softly, and Klaus bit his lip. 

No one ever believed him when he told them Ben was there with him. They always thought he was high or drunk and looking for attention. But now, would Diego believe him? He was sober, so would his brother accept knowing that Ben was there?

Klaus looked across the room at Ben, who looked back with indifferent eyes. Klaus knew that whatever decision he made Ben would get it. 

‘I don’t know.” He replied, not breaking eye contact with his brother. 

Diego didn’t reply, the flipping of pages filled the air again. A few more shots of Ben in various stances, one or two of Kisa lounging around the house or out on their walks, and then Diego was at a photo of Dave. 

It was one of Klaus’s favorites of him, a black and white one. It showed Dave at the disco near where they served, leaning against the wall. The beaded drape was behind him, obscured by his body. He was wearing one of his stupid plaid shirts and cargo pants, a cigarette hanging from his lip and a glass of whiskey held loosely from his hand. There was some heavy smoke surrounding him, framing his face and profile, the cocky smirk on his lips highlighted. It made Klaus hurt to look at, one of the pictures that he had to draw just to banish the memory from his mind. 

“Is this Dave?” Diego asked softly, and Klaus nodded. “Oh.”

“What?” Klaus asked, not liking the hesitant tone in Diego’s voice. The one that signaled that he was holding something back. 

“It’s just,” Diego sighed. “I thought you’d, I don’t know, be over him by now or something? Moved on?”

Klaus can’t describe what he was feeling at that moment. The blinding grief, anger, the feeling in his chest the bubbled up and burst and set him aflame. For a moment he thought he would yell at Diego, scream and hit him for even mentioning Dave like that. 

Because Diego wasn’t there. 

Diego wasn’t there when Klaus tried night after night to summon Dave. He wasn’t there to witness Klaus scream and beg and cry and send wave after wave of power out in hopes that Dave would show up. That Dave would stop being such a stubborn bastard and Klaus could see him one last time. Diego wasn't there to watch him break down every time it didn't work, grief overtaking him and pulling him under the tide of flashbacks and regret.

He had been trying for months, over a year easily. But every time he focused and tried to summon the spirit of the man he loved he found he was unable to. Hell, he could summon anything else, even his neighbors’ stupid rabbit, but not the only person he loved. 

So yeah, it was safe to say that Dave was a bit of a soft spot for him. 

“Are you over your lady cop yet?” Klaus shot back, stepping away from his brother and watching as Diego flinched away at the mention. 

He thought the dig would make him feel better, that he would be happy about being able to get under Diego’s skin after such a stupid thoughtless and hurtful remark. But all it did was make him feel empty, hollowed out as he turned and walked into the kitchen, angrily filling up the sink so he could wash their dishes. 

He felt tears sting his eyes as he scrubbed at the plate. He could see pictures of Dave under his eyes, memories of the moments they shared brushing his mind. He could feel the betrayal that had been bubbling under his skin ever since Dave refused to show up and he felt more and more alienated from his family and the rest of the world. 

This entire dinner was a mistake. He never should have let Diego back into his life, no matter how much he just wanted to have his brother again. 

He heard soft footsteps follow him, and he knew his brother was standing behind him. He refused to turn to look. 

“That was wrong of me to say.” Diego muttered softly. “I’m sorry I guess? I, god I’ve missed you so much Klaus. Sorry for fucking this up so bad.” 

Klaus let the silence sit for a minute, let the words stew in his mind. 

“It’s been a long night.” Klaus started softly, finally turning to face his brother. “Why don’t we just get some sleep and we can catch up more tomorrow? When we’re both less tired.” It was a white flag, a truce that he was offering his brother. An option to go out and pretend this never happened so they can still attempt to build a relationship from this shaky foundation.

Diego nodded, relief clouding over his face. He quickly told Klaus what motel he was staying at and he turned to leave. Klaus let him, until Diego paused at the door and turned around to walk back to him. 

Klaus opened his mouth to ask what was wrong when Diego grabbed a hold of him and pulled him into a hug, his arms wrapping around Klaus and pulling him close. 

Klaus tensed for a moment before relaxing into the embrace, his thin arms snaking around Diego as he hugged back, tears pricking his eyes once again. 

God he missed his pig-headed idiot of a brother. 

“I’ve missed you Klaus. Never forget that I love you okay?” Diego said, before turning and running tail like he always did when feelings got involved in things. 

Klaus watched as the door swung closed and he stood there for a while longer, wishing he could pull his brother back in and just keep hugging him and forgive him for all the fuck-ups they’ve had in the past years. 

But instead he walked into his room and got ready for bed, his chest feeling oddly numb.


	5. Advice

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just wanted to mention how much I love you all?? Like I wasn't expecting such a huge amount of support for this story and honestly every single one of your comments makes me beyond happy :)

The best plan of action for Diego would be shoving his head in his work and forgetting every aspect of last night. 

He didn’t want to think of how he may have ruined everything he had going on with his brother with a few stupid comments and his inability to communicate. Life was so much simpler when he didn’t have to care about these things. When interacting with his siblings was a chore and not something he desperately wanted to do. 

The crime scene had long been cleaned, the bodies cleared away and the team cleaning up the remaining blood marks staining the room. All that was left was the untouched innocence of a childhood home, photos lining the walls and paint covering where the stains used to be. 

Diego wasn’t sure just what he was doing at this point, he told his partner he was going to do a final sweep of the house, but now that he was here he found himself unable to actually look for anything of substance. Instead, he was rummaging around the house, looking at photos and reading their notebooks. 

He had to know the victims, see why the asshole that murdered them choose them over anyone else. From what he recalled from the file, they were triplets, staying together because the prices for houses in LA was stupidly high. Diego picked up one of those little baby scrapbooks, a picture of three sleeping babies on the front. 

He flipped through it, ignoring the small skip of his heart when he saw the pictures of them all, playing soccer and having fun. He hadn’t had that luxury as a child. 

Diego slammed the book closed, pissed at himself for being so distracted. He normally didn’t let any of this shit get in his way when he was working, but the guilt was eating him alive, festering inside of him and digesting his stomach. 

He snooped a bit more, reading their graduation quotes and staring at the photographs highlighting their childhood. Happy photos of the three of them smiling and laughing, living their lives to their fullest. They didn’t deserve to die in such a gruesome way, their lives tugged out from them so violently. 

At least they died together, dying like the way they lived. From the reports and what he could see, he could tell the three of them were close, exactly what good siblings should be. 

Was this what happened to families? They either broke apart willingly or unwillingly, ending in disaster no way that you looked at it. He saw the triplet’s dead bodies, then remembered Ben’s mutated body coming home, Five running out of the room and never coming back, Vanya standing to the side of everything as a child with longing written all over her face, Klaus waving goodbye with tears in his eyes. 

Diego left the house with a bitter taste in his mouth. He needed a drink. 

_________________________________________

A week later and he was still stuck in this town, researching every single lead he could think of. 

The job was going nowhere, the trail growing colder with every day he stayed. It made him antsy, restless and annoyed. This wasn’t helped by the fact that Klaus hadn’t contacted him in any shape or form since their disaster of a dinner a week ago. 

But he pretended like he was fine, pushed down his confusing feelings and dug deeper and deeper into every single lead he could find. 

The maid that went on vacation right after the murders, who claimed that she was asleep at the time of the murder. Eventually, it was proved that she was in fact innocent, a video camera showing her sleeping peacefully the entire night. 

The neighbor who claimed to be at work, backed up by his asshole of a boss. The gardener who was away at his sister’s house. The mailman who was sick. Their bosses were all with their families. 

Lead after lead led him to a dead-end, ending before it could really gain any motion. It made Diego feel like he was failing at his job, failing to protect the town which still had a murderer roaming around the streets, a threat to anyone. 

Saturday morning, eight days since he showed up, another body was found. 

A young man, killed in the exact same way. Found in a dead alley on the opposite side of town, a garbage man finding his body in the trash bin early morning. Diego was at the scene immediately, biting his lip as Jake interviewed the witness. 

The body was gruesome, blood dried on his skin and his eyes open, staring at nothing. The flesh on his neck was torn open crudely, not clean like Diego would have thought. The killer obviously had no concern over how painful or long the death was. His fingertips were slashed as well, his shirt ripped open but no wounds visible. Around the same age of the other vic’s, although he’d need to check on that. Any connections between the victims could help lead them towards the murderer.

From what he could hear from the local police, the man was homeless. No family, no one who cared about him, no one to identify the body other than the store owner who the kid regularly stole from. It wasn’t said that he was a junkie or anything like that, but Diego thought about it. He looked down on the body and felt the familiar feeling of sadness that he did when he heard about a dead junkie back at home. 

Only this time there was no fear concerning if it was going to be Klaus dead in front of him. Because Klaus was off at whatever he did all day, living his life to the best of his ability. No longer needing his brother to lean against for support. Diego shook the thought out of his mind, forcing him to focus on the task at hand. 

This man had died because no one managed to find the killer. No one managed to snatch the perp up before he could commit another crime, steal another life from under their watch. After all the info they could get was gathered, Diego went back to the motel and Jake went out to get some more information on the vic. 

Diego was tired, upset at the new murder and really he just wanted to sleep for an hour before he would properly look at this all. 

He twisted open the lock on his door, swinging it open and almost yelling when he saw the figure on the bed. 

His knives were out in an instant, ready to be thrown at whoever was sitting on his bed before he realized who it was. 

“Why hello to you too.” Klaus drawled from where he sat, a Cheshire cat grin on his face from Diego’s reaction. 

Jesus fuck. 

____________________

 

“Am I not allowed to pop in for some quality bro time?” Klaus asked when Diego stormed in, throwing off his uniform jacket and glaring at his brother. 

Yeah, he was secretly relieved to see his brother, after the week he had he honestly missed his brother’s presence. Which was weird because he had just become used to not expecting to have Klaus pop up at random times during the day. In the first few months after Klaus left Diego would go back to his place and half expect him to be leaning against the counter, eating his food with a shit-eating grin on his face. But it never happened and every day the crushing feeling in his chest lessened ever so slightly. 

“Not when I’m working.” Diego sighed, turning to face his brother again, who hadn’t moved from where he sat cross-legged on Diego’s bed, looking absurdly comfortable. How long had he been waiting there? Knowing his brother it could have been a while. 

“You’re not working, you just got back from work.” Klaus pointed out, and Diego had to remind himself of all the reasons he missed his brother. 

“I’ve got to work soon; the case is still going on.” Diego told him, and he watched as Klaus’s mask slipped slightly, concern and fear shining in his eyes. 

“There was another murder right?” He asked softly, his face searching Diego’s for something. 

“Yeah, the fourth one. Still no leads, no witnesses.” He replied, and he probably wasn’t supposed to be telling Klaus this shit but no one was there to yell at him so who cared. 

He ignored the little voice that told him that maybe he was telling Klaus this because he wanted to be on his brothers' good side. For Klaus to see that he was putting in an effort to get along. The rocky way their dinner happened over a week ago was still fresh in Diego’s mind. 

“That sucks. You need some help?” Klaus said, and Diego blinked. 

“What?” He said dumbly. 

Klaus rolled his eyes. “Well, you got no leads, no witnesses other than the victims, so why better to ask by them?” Klaus said innocently. 

“You can’t be serious.” Diego groaned, rubbing his forehead where he could feel a headache forming. 

“Dead serious.” Klaus said with a giggle. “C’mon bro, it’ll be fun! You can get a lead you desperately need and we can spend some good ole bro time! Just like it was when the world was ending.” 

“I am not taking you into a crime scene so you can talk to the ghosts Klaus, first that’s beyond messed up, second it’s way out of my abilities, and thirdly-“ Diego blinked at the way Klaus was staring at him, the shining of his eyes told Diego that he was only staying quiet to humor him. “You're going to do it either way aren’t you?” He asked with a resigned sigh. 

“You bet your ass I will. So, you coming or not?” Klaus asked, grinning widely. 

“Don’t you have something better to do than whatever illegal thing your planning?” He asked, a small twinge of guilt when Klaus’s eyes hooded again. 

“It’s not illegal when you have a police officer with you right?” He asked, the grin back in place. 

“It’s still very much illegal.” He said weakly, but Klaus was already standing, clapping his hands. 

“Alright Dee! Let’s get going and do some spooky Casper shit!” He said, skipping out the door and Diego had no choice but to follow him. 

He was pretty good at arguing about things, but he could never deny Klaus anything he wanted. So if his brother wanted to go to the site of a gruesome murder to talk to some ghosts that were recently brutally killed, the least he could do was make sure his brother had a chaperone.

God he really needed that drink.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The plots moving people!! Woot woot!!!


	6. Just add water

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I got this chapter written really quickly because I started thinking a lot about how Klaus's powers over death worked in this story and I really wanted to write it down? I hope it makes sense because I'm kind of on a caffeine high lmao. Feel free to ask any questions in the comments because I love to chat and I've thought A LOT about how Klaus's powers work.

Klaus wasn’t originally planning on making Diego break into police only area so he could talk to some ghosts, but you know what it made for a fun evening so he was down. 

Diego was driving, a scowl on his face that Klaus easily ignored. It’s how most people looked when interacting with him. Klaus was fiddling with the radio, turning it from station to station in search of a good song. Ben was chilling behind him, telling him when to listen and when to skip it. 

“So, give me the scoop on this thing.” Klaus said, glancing sideways at Diego, who sighed. 

Was it probably illegal for Diego to tell him anything about an ongoing investigation? Probably, but he didn’t know enough about the law to feel bad about asking. He did need to know about the victims in order to summon them, so he considered this as doing a huge favor for Diego and the rest of his little police squad. 

“I’m taking you to the site of the first three murders, the other one will still be crawling with police.” Diego said with a sigh. 

“Who got killed?” Klaus prodded before he could say anything more. 

“Triplets, two girls and a guy. Chloe, Kiana and Ethan Wright. All 30 years old. Cause of death was slit throats.” Diego reported, taking a sharp turn. 

“Sounds pleasant.” Klaus muttered, finally choosing a station as they rolled up to the driveway. The soft sound of The Killing Moon by Echo & the Bunnymen filtering through the radio. Diego stopped the car, yanking the door open and not waiting for Klaus to catch up as he stomped to the house. Klaus followed behind him, glancing at the cute white walls of the house. 

They walked inside, Diego opening the door easily with the key the precinct gave him. He ushered Klaus inside like he was herding a small child when Klaus stopped to admire the pretty statue they had up front. 

“Okay, we’re here. Do your thing.” Diego said with a frown, and Klaus quickly read between the lines, seeing the skepticism written in his face. 

Surprisingly, he wasn’t that offended to see that Diego didn’t believe he could do it. Klaus refused to do it as a kid, so why could he do it now? To Diego, he was still the same messed up child as before, useless and claiming he could do things for attention. But guess what? He was skilled and spiteful this time around, so he was going to be the best medium these ghosts have ever seen. Not that they have ever seen an actual medium before because as far as Klaus knew he was the only one. 

“Take me to where they were killed.” Klaus said, all business. 

This wasn’t his first summoning, he had offered his services to a few people around the city, people who recognized his name and were desperate for some contact with a recently passed loved one. He kept it on the low, because despite the improvement in his powers, summoning just a few ghosts tended to invite a few other ghosts to pop in as well, and after using his powers for too long it normally took him a few days until he was able to banish them again. 

Summoning and banishing was hard, but he had a feeling it wouldn’t he hard in this house. Ever since developing his power now, he realized death had an aura that he could see if he tried hard enough. A cloud of black colored mist that hovered over an area of a person, normally light enough that he could barely see it, but the more death tied to the object or place, the darker it got. It was everywhere, twisting around every single person, lightly caressing their soul and reminding Klaus of their mortality, but this, this was horrifying. This place rank with death so thick that he couldn't ignore it.

When he focused on the coil of power deep inside him he could see it coating the house. It crept around the walls, twisting around corners and curling under doorways. Thick and as dark as smoke, particles swirling inside like dust in the light. The wrongness of it all radiated around them, and whatever happened in this house had stained the entire presence of it, seeping into every wall, every room. Klaus swallowed, not looking forwards to this trip. 

Diego led him down the hallways, past the kitchen and up a small set of stairs. They entered a living space upstairs and Klaus’s breath stuttered and his heart pounded. 

The place looked horrible and he wasn't even trying to see the bad stuff yet. 

The smell hit him first, the faint coppery scent of blood, rotting flesh and the salty smell of tears. He looked around, his eyes wide as he took in everything around him. 

Currently, the only impressions he could get were scent, faint ideas of sight and sound. The other senses would come into play after the actual summoning, but he wasn’t sure he wanted to go further if this was what he would have to look at. 

The thick smoke of death made it hard to look at, giant clouds filling the entire room, twisting and turning like a live animal, the agony of the death reflected deep inside. Klaus could hear the faints sounds of screaming, begging and crying. Far away like he was looking at it through a tunnel. 

He had never experienced anything like this since developing these skills. 

Luckily he wasn’t able to do this in Vietnam, but in recent times he had never seen such a heavy impression of death like the one that coated this place. It seemed to choke him, pulsing and thrumming as the aura moved around the room, giving him only a faint idea of just how bad this killing was. 

“Klaus?” He heard Diego say, and he turned towards his brother, who look slightly worried. “Are you going to start the summoning?” He asked. 

“Yeah, yeah.” Klaus said stupidly, stepping further into the room despite something deep inside him telling him to run far, far away from whatever horrors that occurred here. 

“Are we sure this is a good idea?” Ben muttered, biting his lip. Ben, luckily, couldn’t see exactly what Klaus could, but as a ghost he got a lot closer than the living did. From what Ben told him he could sense the wrongness of a room where death sat, a feeling deep in his gut that told him that death was near. 

“Nope.” He muttered quietly, forcing his legs to carry him further. Diego followed, looking unsure about what was going to go on. Klaus resisted the urge to tell his brother to leave, get out of this place before the heavy stain of death in the room would tarnish him too, follow him around and twist fate to attract ghosts and death to him like a beckon. The same way Klaus's soul was tarnished. 

But he resisted it, because he knew exactly how Diego would react to that request. 

So instead he took a deep breath, steeling himself for the full picture. He had learned through trial and error that summoning the ghosts would often summon the occurrence of death too. Images and sounds and feeling that would assault Klaus until he managed to fully pull the spirits away from their death and through the veil to the living world. So if he did this right, he only had to survive the horrors for the few seconds it would take to snip the spirit away from their death, to separate them from their fate and invite them back into this world, if only for a short amount of time. 

He spread his hands out, digging deep down inside himself to the coil of power inside his gut. He pictured it like a rope he had to slowly pull out, concentrate into what he wanted to happen. He slowly started to unravel it, the world around his shimmering and distorting as the layer between the living and the dead became apparent to him. He closed his eyes, focusing harder as he pushed through the veil. 

Instantly the feelings hit him. He felt himself stumble back slightly as he sucked in a breath. 

_Blood._

_Screaming._

_“Oh god, please. Help us. Please!”_

_The sound of flesh hitting flesh, someone sobbing in the background._

_“Stop! Please! Leave them alone!”_

_Flashes of faces._

_Girls with tear-streaked eyes, mascara running down their cheeks and fear in their eyes, blood splattered over their faces._

_A boy gurgling on his own blood, his hands clutching at his neck hopelessly as if it could stop the bleeding._

_A shrill scream of pain, and name screamed into the air._

_“Please no! Stop it! Stop it!”_

_A knife raised, blood dripping onto the carpet, staining the ground with the color._

_“Get off of me!”_

_The stink of blood, red substance coating the floor and walls._

_The feeling of bright pain on his neck, stronger than any physical pain he had ever felt before._

_“Help us, someone please help us.”_

__

Klaus tugged hard, latching onto the three spirits he could feel trapped there, and it all disappeared, his eyes flying open again. 

The images and sounds faded, the room coming back into focus and he took in a shaky breath. Diego was holding him up, his fingers clutching onto his arm and worry evident in his eyes. Klaus didn’t pull away, his legs feeling unsteady as he stood, exhaustion creeping into his bones. 

“Holy shit.” Diego whispered, and Klaus looked up, his eyes landing on the three scared looking ghosts standing in front of them, black smoke curling around their legs. “You actually did it.” 

Klaus tried not to bristle at the words, the doubt. But he pushed away from Diego, standing on his own shaky legs as he stepped towards them. 

“Hey.” He said with a soothing smile, knowing how disorientating crossing the veil could be. They blinked at him. “My name is Klaus, this is my bro Diego. What’s your guys names?”

Of course, he already knew who they were, but sometimes they needed a moment to break free of the cycle they were trapped in; the constant repeat of their own deaths replaying over and over again. It made ghosts sometimes forget who they were, what they were like before they crossed into the land of the dead. The older ghosts tended to fall into the trap, the pull of insanity. Those were the ones who would just scream at him for help and beg to be saved without knowing what they were asking for. 

Luckily these spirits were new, meaning they probably only needed a moment or two to adjust to being in this plane of existence again. 

“Chloe Wright.” One of the girls said, her hair a dark brown and pinned up, glasses sitting broken on her face. Klaus barely even noticed the ripped skin on her neck, the blood staining her outfit. What he did notice was the aura of death surrounding her, attempting to pull her back into its clutches. He pushed it away from her and her siblings, creating a barrier around them to protect them from its grasp. “That’s my sister Kiana and my brother Ethan.” 

She gestured first to the other girl, who’s hair was a lot lighter and was staring at Klaus like she was trying to figure out some puzzle. The guy had perfectly styled hair flecked with blood and was a lot taller than the other two. Both had matching wounds to their sister, although the guy, Ethan, had a bruised face and a split lip. 

“it’s nice to meet you. We just have a few questions for you guys, if that’s not an issue.” Klaus said soothingly, glancing over to where Diego was still standing with his mouth hanging slightly open. Klaus tried not to feel too smug about putting that look on his brothers face. “Diego?” He asked sharply. 

His brother startled, shaking himself out of the trance and stepping forwards beside Klaus and clearing his throat. Klaus could see his eyes dart down to look at the wounds and the blood, and his brother shuddered slightly, looking a tiny bit sick. Klaus could get it, it was pretty horrible looking. 

“We wanted to know more about your death.” He said softly, his best comforting face on. All three ghosts glanced at each other. 

“Will this help you find the sick fuck that killed us?” Ethan asked, his voice hoarse and scratchy. 

“Yes, we have no leads. We need something, anything really. Can you describe them? Give us any clues to who they were or why they killed you?” Diego prodded, and Klaus tuned out a little bit, putting all his energy into making sure the connection was stable. The last thing he wanted was for the three of them to fade before they could do anything. 

“Your doing great Klaus.” Ben muttered form behind him, his figure slightly faded but still there. Not corporal though, four ghosts at once would be way too much, even for him at full strength. “Keep it up.”

“It was a guy.” Chloe spoke up again, her eyes darting around as if he was hiding in the shadows. The fear was written clearly on all their faces. “Tall, maybe 6”3? He was wearing a ski mask so we didn’t catch his face. He didn’t talk. But he was strong, easily overpowered all three of us.” 

“He broke in late at night, we had just finished dinner and was watching a movie. He came up from behind and hit me on the head, tied Chlo and Kiana up and went for me first. I fought back, but it wasn’t enough.” Ethan trailed off, his eyes shadowed and Klaus knew he was remembering his horrible death. “He didn’t care about making it quiet or painless. His knife was dull, didn’t tear through the skin easily. I could feel it tear through each layer-“

“Ethan.” Chloe cut him off with a scolding face, apparently seeing the uncomfortable way Diego was shifting. Ethan rolled his eyes. 

“He said he wanted any details he could get.” He grumbled, but he stayed quiet. 

“I know you.” Kiana blurted out, speaking for the first time. She was staring Klaus down still, stepping forwards. “Klaus right? Hargreeves? Your one of us.” 

Klaus blinked, sharing a look with Diego and stepping forwards, trying to make the connection. 

“One of you?” He asked carefully, turning his head slightly in question. 

“You know, the whole,” She looked around, lowering her voice and stepping closer. “power thing?” 

The connection was made almost instantly. 

“You were one of the other kids.” He said with a small laugh. “You guys were born on October 1st as well?” 

Diego blinked, the realization hitting as he stared at them. 

“Yeah, we were!” Kiana said, grinning. “I read about you, the one who can talk to ghosts. You were my idol as a kid.” She turned to Diego. “That means you’re the Kraken right? The knife dude that can hold his breath?” 

Diego nodded dumbly. “How do you know us?” 

“I read the comics duh!” She said with a laugh. “It was useful to know that the three of us weren’t the only ones in the world. You guys were like the only coping methods I had with dealing with this hell!” 

“What can you guys do?” Klaus asked, grinning. He had always wondered how the other people like him were, if they were alive. 

“I can manipulate fire, Ethan air, and Chloe water.” Kiana said, matching Klaus’s grin. “There was a fourth one of us, but he didn’t survive the birth. I assume he had earth powers.” 

“This is off-topic.” Diego muttered like the killjoy he was. 

“Or is it?” Klaus countered, and Diego raised his eyebrows. “Connections Diego, we need all the information we can get.” 

Diego sighed. “Tell us more about the man.” He said, ignoring Klaus’s words entirely. Ethan was quick to jump up, eager to tell them more about his untimely death. 

“He had a tattoo I think. A small fishing hook on the inside of his elbow. That’s important right?” He said, biting his lip. Diego nodded. 

“Very, anything else identifying? We can take whatever we can get.” Diego asked, stepping in front of Klaus and closer to the ghosts, who willingly gave him everything he wanted to know. 

Klaus tuned out when he started feeling a slight strain, the power flowing under his skin skipping. He could start to hear the loop again, the screams and begging in the back of his mind. The room was distorting slightly, the walls slowly staining blood red, furniture overturned in the struggle. The connection that flowed between the three ghosts started to falter again, slipping slightly out of Klaus’s grasp. 

He had gained a lot of power, but summoning and brining three ghosts through the veil was hard on it own. But making them manifest completely for a long amount of time was getting to be too much for him. 

“Diego.” He warned, his arms starting to shake slightly as his body temperature dropped. The one hazard of his powers. If he maintained too much contact with the dead, keeping them corporal for long amounts of time, the death that had its attachment to them started growing. It needed an outlet, something to latch onto. And with Klaus holding it back, keeping it away from the spirits, it started to latch onto him, the only thing left unprotected and vulnerable. The man who stood in the middle of the world, not quite dead but also not fully alive.

He wasn’t sure just how far he could go, what would happen if he didn’t break the connection in time. Maybe he would get overwhelmed by it, and it would pull his own soul through the veil in place of the ghosts. He didn’t feel like testing that theory. 

He had little markers in his mind, what was too much, when to pull back before it was too late. 

His internal temperature would drop first, his heart rate slowed down and a bone-deep weariness plagued him, pulling him down. He needed to stop the moment he felt his breathing start to stutter and his mind start to wander, or else he wasn’t sure what would happen. 

“Hurry it up.” He said again, pushing a little more of his power into the connection. He could see the smoke of death start to move away from where the triplets were standing and start to gather around him. 

“Five more minutes.” Diego snapped, looking slightly annoyed. Klaus knew he didn’t have that kind of time. He could feel his heart rate slowing drastically. His breath was getting harder to force out of his mouth, harder to suck it in, like it was turning to ice in his throat. Yet he focused, not wanting to let his brother down. Chloe, Kiana, and Ethan had died, another victim earlier that day. He needed to keep this connection solid or else more lives were at risk. 

“Klaus, you need to stop.” Ben said, walking closer, fear evident in his eyes. “You're pushing yourself too much, this is uncharted territory. It’s not safe.” 

Klaus shook his head, gritting his teeth and forcing some of the smoke away from him, pushing it away like he normally did with the ghosts he manifested. But it wouldn’t stay away for long, creeping closer and closer. He could hear the screams of other ghosts calling out his names, drawn to him like a beckon shining in the dark. He ignored them.

“Klaus, stop it.” Ben said, gripping onto his sleeve. The death was thick enough around Klaus that he could feel Ben’s fingers, despite knowing he wasn’t visible to anyone else. “You're going to get yourself killed Klaus. It’s not that important. Take a break and you guys can try again later.” 

“I’m fine.” He whispered, forcing the words out. His heart was pounding despite it slowing down. His limbs felt heavy, like gravity was increasing and pulling him down. Something was gripping his mind, claws digging into his consciousness and attempting to tug it away. And yet Klaus powered on, feeling the coil of power inside of him and forcing everything he had into it, trying his best to banish the stink of death away from him and the three spirits. 

“Klaus, enough. Please.” Ben begged, his grip tightening. Klaus felt so cold that the grip hurt, bruising his skin like he was made of glass. “Klaus!” 

He couldn’t do it anymore, the stench of death was covering him, trying to pull him back into the veil, grasping for anything to take back with it. Greedy grasping hands pulling against his essence. His chest was hurting, like someone was gripping his lungs and squeezing, forcing the life out of him.

He gasped, breaking the connection and staggering back, falling to his knees as he let the ghosts slip away. The smoke convulsed around them, pulling them away from this world and into the great beyond. He knelt on the ground, gasping in breath after breath, his heart pounding wildly now that it was released from the cool grip of death. 

“Klaus?” Diego asked, hurrying over and grabbing his shoulder, worry evident in his voice. 

“I’m good.” He whispered, sucking in another deep breath. 

“Stop lying asshole.” Ben cut in and Klaus glared at him half-heartedly. “You almost killed yourself you massive idiot. Do you have any brain cells up there?”

“Nope.” He responded, ignoring the weird look Diego gave him. “Help me up.” He ordered, shakily climbing to his feet. 

“What happened? Are you okay?” Diego asked, throwing Klaus arm around his shoulder to help support him. Klaus didn’t want to admit that he was grateful for the help, the relief on his weary limbs. 

“I’m fine, just a side effect.” He mumbled, letting his head hang as it pounded. 

“I didn’t know, if you told me I wouldn’t have-“ Diego started, but Klaus felt a bubble of irritation pop up. He was tired and sore and he just wanted to sleep, not listen to whatever bullshit Diego was saying.

“There’s a lot you don’t know Diego. Just get me to the car.” He snapped, and Diego fell silent immediately. 

Klaus didn’t have the energy to feel bad about the comment, and they left the house in silence and neither of them said another word for the duration of the ride back to Klaus’s place.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Good? Bad? What do you guys think. Also, I shamelessly stole Randamnation's idea in the comments of last chapter? So thanks for giving me the idea of making them special kids like Klaus and Diego because that's such a better idea than what I was planning lmao.


	7. Lemon Boy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, this is a little short, but it's mostly a set up for the next chapter so bare with me!

Diego wasn’t sure he could continue on this case. 

The most important part of his job and the background of his other work, was that he had to remain indifferent, separate from the case or else it could lead to casualties. His mind was split here, half his focus going into the case but the other half wandering back to Klaus. 

He couldn’t stop thinking about that day in the house, even two days afterwards. He didn’t actually think Klaus could do it, as horrible as that sounded. 

Klaus had never been able to summon anything as a kid and into his thirties. He buried his powers and every time he tried to summon anything from the underworld, or wherever they came from, he would fail, his powers sputtering into nothing. So when Klaus suggesting summoning not only one, but three ghosts into this world, he wasn’t sure what to expect. 

All of their powers had limits, points they couldn’t pass, he figured Klaus had to have some too. And the idea behind all of this was just ridiculous. Ghosts were real, he could accept that much, but believing that they could truly cross back over to this world was a bit far fetched for him. 

But now, well he was proven wrong. Seeing Klaus stand in that room, his sounds outstretch like some performer, he had his doubts, he was ready to grab Klaus and turn them around. To head back to Klaus’s apartment and drop Klaus off, get back to actual work. But then the glow started, and Klaus’s eyes started flickering behind his eyelids. And then Klaus stumbled back, the air in the room growing thicker and Diego’s ears had popped. 

He had reached out to grab Klaus, stop his from falling, before he saw the three figures standing in front of them. He had never seen anything like it. Their ghostly forms wavering in the slight, a slight blue tint to them as they stood their, their forms bloody. Was this what Klaus saw everywhere? He had to ask him. 

Diego had launched right into the interrogation, getting tons of information from them despite the bump of figuring out they were special like them. It was unrelated, it had to be unrelated. (He would check the birthdate of the other victim soon, he wasn’t avoiding it. He just kept forgetting, that's all.) 

Then Klaus was warning him about something, and Diego ignored it, keeping questioning and ignoring Klaus like he always did. He didn’t even realize something was wrong before the ghosts disappeared in a blink of an eye and Klaus was falling like a dead weight. (He wasn’t thinking about how he couldn’t feel Klaus’s heart beating when he first got there, how cold his brothers’ skin was or the fact that he was barely breathing.) 

If he just knew, if Klaus had told him that his powers had limits, limits that could harm him in ways Diego couldn’t even think of, he would have listened. He swears he would have listened. He was trying, but it was a two-way street, he needed Klaus to talk to him too. Let him know what he needed. Diego was out of his element, floundering in the middle of an ocean. 

He couldn’t stop falling into the same traps as before. Ignoring Klaus, thinking him useless, invalidating his concerns even when he knew deep down that he was right. He couldn’t stop being the asshole that thought of Klaus as the junkie on the streets, useless and helpless against the world. 

That wasn’t his brother anymore. This Klaus was far from helpless, far from useless. He was living life without Diego, he didn’t need help anymore. And maybe that’s what hurt most. Knowing that Klaus didn’t need to lean against Diego anymore, knowing that he was needed or wanted in this situation. 

If he kept thinking of this the thoughts would overwhelm him, and then he would be completely useless. 

He needed to find the man that was murdering people, then he could focus on repairing the broken ties between him and his brother. He just needed to get this done and over with. 

The ghosts have gave him a lot to work with, nothing he could give to the LA police or even his partner, because explaining where he got it would just be hard and lead nowhere. He would probably get detained, or worse Klaus would get pulled into the station for questioning. 

So he told Jake he was going for a walk and went to investigate his first lead. 

Ethan had told him a lot about the tattoo on the man’s arm, the fishing hook with the fancy designs around the main part, the roman numerals at the bottom. Diego was guessing it was the symbol for some sort of building, a business or a logo of some sort, maybe even a gang sign. He didn’t know a lot about the streets of LA, and in such a large town the guy could be hiding anywhere, but Diego had a hunch it was somewhere close to the murders. 

Both killings had been within fifty blocks of each other, close enough that Diego figured that it had something to do with the location and not with the victims. Serial killers had a type, a certain thing connection victims that they looked for. So far he was unable to make that connection, both hits seemingly random, nothing connecting the two. 

The first three killings had come from a rich family, well off and thriving, with friends and family looking after them. The second had been a loner, a mess up with no money and no connections to anyone. Completely different sides of the spectrum, so it had to do something with the location. 

He wandered around again, his eyes flickering from building to people’s bare arms, looking for anything similar to what Ethan described. 

He was getting anxious again, the dread pooling in his stomach every time he walked forwards, making him itch for something to hit, for some way to get all this energy out so he could focus again. 

He looked up at the sky, squinting against the sunlight that beat down on him. He should probably buy some sunscreen at some point, he was going to burn if he didn’t. 

Someone ran into him, sending his stumbling slightly. 

“Watch where you're  
going asshole!” Someone grumbled, and Diego was about to argue back before something caught his eyes. A small sign off to the side, a fishhook that matched the description that Ethan gave. 

Diego’s heart pumped, and he quickly strode towards it, determined to look inside. 

The radio on his hip cackled to life. 

“Agent Hargreeves, we have another murder. Report to east of fourth street immediately.” Jake's voice startled him, and he cursed, picking it up. 

“Got it. Be right there.” He replied, turning around and catching the street name before rushing away. This could wait, he needed to investigate the fifth murder quickly or else risk any evidence destroyed. He would have to come back to investigate later.

_____________________________________

“Tell me everything.” He ordered as soon as he walked in, Jake glanced at him, worrying his lip between his teeth. 

“Another girl, Alice Megans. Worked at the barber shop here as a hairstylist, found dead in the back office by her boss. Throat slit like the others. Still nothing about the murder. No trace at all, cameras all blacked out. Whoever this guy is, he’s good.” Jake told him, rubbing his forehead. Diego nodded, watching as the paramedics wheeled the victim out, her body covered in a sheet. 

“God damn it.” He muttered, squeezing his eyes shut.

Five bodies now. The blood on him and the rest of their hands. They needed something, and they needed it soon. Or else the bodies would keep piling up, and the citizens were getting restless. Someone was screaming behind the police line. Reporters asking the police trying to keep the peace questions, inquiring about the safety of the town. Diego closed his eyes, breathing out and sighing. 

He needed to check that place out soon, but it was almost lunch and what he really wanted to do was get a sub and just think about everything that was happening, he could check the place out tomorrow. He just needed some time to relax and come up with a plan. 

He set to work exploring the salon, searching for any clues before declaring it useless after an hour. Jake wasn’t kidding, this guy was good. No footprints, no fingerprints, no signs of any DNA left behind. He was practically a ghost, slipping in unnoticed by cameras, disabling any security in seconds, and killing people without a single witness. 

Diego had dealt with some hard cases, but he was much more of a hands-on person. He preferred running into a fight with fists and knives raised. But this was different, he needed to think, to get into the mindset of the killer and figure out why this was all happening. 

He had to figure this out, and soon. He wasn’t sure if he could deal with letting another innocent die on his watch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Question for you all, would you guys like to see some of the other siblings come into play in the plot? Or are you guys good with just Klaus and Diego (and Ben of course) because that's cool too. If you want someone else maybe let me know who so I can try to work it in? Thanks y'all you guys are the best.


	8. All the Lonely Nights in your Life

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We keep on getting closer and closer to the exciting parts people!!!

Klaus woke up on the bright and sunny Tuesday without a care in the world. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and the ache in his body from the summoning had finally dulled to something barely noticeable. All in all, a great morning. 

He hummed a tune as he walked through his morning routine, putting on a nice red V-neck that swept a lot lower than it probably should have, pairing it with a simple pair of jeans. He then walked to the kitchen, quickly flicking on the stove top and twirling over to the fridge. He smiled, his chest feeling light for the first time in weeks. 

He quickly grabbed some eggs and cracked them into the pot, levitating over some spices as he watched them cook. Once they were done he ate them quickly, glancing over at the clock. 9am exactly, that left him plenty of time to go get a coffee before work. 

He skipped out of the building, Ben on his heels, practically running to catch up with Klaus’s long legs. 

“What do you think?” He asked when Ben caught up. “Did Marty finally ask out Brandon? Or do I still have to deal with their doe eyes today?” 

“Defiantly didn’t, Brandon may have asked him out though.” Ben replied after a minute, giving the question a bit more thought than he should have. 

“I can see that.” Klaus mused. “But I still feel like Brandon is the type of guy that wants to get asked out, not be the asker.” 

“Marty has been putting off asking him out for three years Klaus, I think Brandon may have had enough of it by now.” Ben pointed out, and Klaus had to agree that he had a point. 

Klaus had been going to this coffee shop ever since his first day there, the bright and earthy vibe drawing him towards it almost instantly. And if he tried hard enough the baristas would give him an extra flavour shot for free. 

“Your regular Klaus?” His normal barista, Amanda asked him when he showed up. He liked her, with her thin glasses and bright smile.

“You bet.” He said with a grin, placing the five down on the counter. “How’s life been?”

“Same old,” She replied, turning to make the drink. The shop was at one of it’s few empty moments, only six other people loitering around drinking their drinks. “I might take a vacation for a while though.” 

“Really? Why? What am I going to do without my favourite barista!” He cried, throwing his hands up in fake dramatics. She chuckled, grinning over her shoulder. 

“My boyfriends super worried about the murders, he wants me to drive up to his place for a little bit, just to be safe.” She explained, pumping the vanilla flavouring into the tea. Klaus mentally cheered when she added another extra one. 

“Makes sense.” He said non committedly, not wanting to think about his brush with the triplets over the weekend. The interaction was still lingering at the back of his head, begging him to think about it. He refused, it wasn’t his job. Diego’s thing was going out and solving crime and murders, Klaus tended to stay away from them. 

(He could still see the few ghosts he hadn’t been strong enough to banish in the corner of his eye, their eyes haunted as they called out his name.) 

“It’s just so close to home. Who knows when this sicko will strike next, who he will kill. I don’t want it to be me.” Amanda shuddered, and Klaus’s grin faltered. He never really thought of it that way. He was oddly removed from the situation despite being pretty much right in the middle of where it was happening. Amanda glanced at him carefully, biting her lip. “Maybe you should go too.” 

Klaus laughed, shaking his head at the idea.

“What!” Amanda defended herself. “I don’t want to read about you dead in a ditch Klaus. Don’t you have some family or someone out of town that you can visit? Just for a little bit?” 

“No one.” He said bitterly, smiling softly at her. “I’ll be safe though. Don’t want you guys to go bankrupt if I stop showing up.” He said with a wink as he grabbed his drink and quickly left. 

It was a nice day out, the sun shining down on him and tanning his skin even more than usual. He glanced at a clock, glad to see that he had at least thirty minutes to get to work. 

He was on and off at the barber shop lately, only showing up when his clients requested him specifically. He showed up every once in a while when Kisa asked him to help with the workload, but more often than not he spent his days in his apartment, painting a commission or another random work when inspiration struck. 

Some days he preferred the noise and busyness of the salon, the people and the life that surrounded him. When the flashbacks and memories got too hard to fight he would go there, getting lost in the bright colors and loud music filling the place. And when his depression hit hard he would show up too, getting lost in people's smiles and laughs. 

He showed up five minutes before his appointment was suppose to show up, the bell signalling his entrance. 

Kisa was at the front, waving cheerfully to him as he entered. She was working on some older man who looked like he was sucking a lemon, so he decided to bother her later. Instead he went to his reserved station, pulling out his scissors and other tools. Then he wandered over to the jukebox, stealthily changing the song to something more his style. 

He snickered and ran back to the front when he heard Kisa’s cry of disdain from where she was working. 

One of his regulars, Jack, was waiting for him at the front, having just walked in. Klaus had been seeing Jack for only six months, but the dude came in around once a month for a cut, which seemed like overkill, but it got Klaus and the rest of them money, so he didn’t complain. 

“Take a seat! Your usual today?” Klaus asked, and Jack nodded as he sat down. A man of few words like usual. 

Klaus lowered the seat to the right height, the man was pretty tall, and got to work, humming to the song he picked. 

“Is he your only one today Klaus?” Alice, the girl who managed the chair next to him, asked with a smile. 

“Yup, I haven’t had a booking for a while, so thankfully Jackie here brought me back.” He said with a teasing smile, ruffling Jack’s hair. 

“Well, what would I do without my disaster of a stylist?” Jack mumbled softly, his voice rough with disuse. Klaus knew the man didn’t like to speak much, so he never pressured him into it, but he was always overjoyed to get a response from him. 

“Have outrageous hair I’m guessing.” He snipped back, winking at him. “You have anyone yet Alice?” 

“Nope, I got someone in ten though. Thought I’d bug you in the meantime.” She said, sitting in the chair and spinning it around. Klaus was glad to be in company of someone just as immature as him. 

“Oh, I’m the only one here allowed to bug people darling.” He joked, setting to carefully snipped at Jack’s hair. “By the way, do you want to come by for drinks tomorrow? It’s been a while since we’ve just hung out.” 

“Of course!” Alice said with a blinding smile that Klaus returned. The two of them were good friends, Alice working there beside him for the past year. He enjoyed hanging out with her, she had a wicked sense of humor. “I can bring you that stupid lemonade stuff you love.” 

“You are a goddess among men.” He told her, his mouth practically watering at the mention of her homemade lemonade that he lived for. 

“You better remember that.” She said back, and Klaus laughed, chatting away with her during the duration of the appointment, Jack sometimes chipping in with a comment or two. 

All in all, he left the salon three hours later with a smile on his face. 

_______________________________________________

He wanted to call Diego. 

He knew he shouldn’t, knew his brother would be too busy to deal with him. But he wanted to talk to him, go hang out for a bit. Maybe catch a late dinner or something. They hadn’t spoken since the triplets house a couple of days ago, since they both were tired and shocked and sat in silence. 

He wanted to stop having such bad experiences with his brother, wanted to get past all the shit between them and just be brothers again. He hadn’t felt this way for a while, but everything was coming back now. Memories and feelings along with desires. 

He wanted to be able to bug Diego and annoy him like always, instead of just feeling so worthless by him. He wanted to be himself around him again, not feeling like he should constantly be working for approval, for acceptance. 

He sighed, picking up the phone one last time and chucking it across the room, mentally catching it before it shattered against the wall. He may be well off, but he liked that phone. 

He reached over and grabbed the nearest book he could, some random story he found in the library that looked interesting enough, he set up some music and settled back on the couch. He was halfway through the book when the door flew open, slamming against the wall. 

He was up in an instant, already on edge as Kisa stumbled through the door. 

He relaxed, but only for a moment before he saw the look on her face. 

“Kisa?” He cried, running forwards to stabilize her on her shaky legs. “What’s wrong?”

She looked like hell. Tears staining her cheeks and her normally immaculate makeup smeared. Her hair was fizzing out of its braid, and was that blood on her hands and clothes?

“She’s dead.” Kisa sobbed, launching herself into Klaus’s arms. He stumbled back under her weight, wrapping his arms tightly around her. “Alice is dead.”

Klaus swore his heart stopped beating, the panic settling in. _Alice was dead._

“What?” He asked, breathless as she continued to sob into his shoulder. He felt like he should be crying too, mourning the loss of one of his best friends. But he found he couldn’t, the numbness in his chest battling with the pure and utter despair. 

“I was closing shop with her and Mark.” Kisa mumbled, and Klaus could barely hear her over her sobbing. “Mark and I left for only a few minutes, but when we got back- she was, oh god.” She collapsed into sobs again, and Klaus held her closer, falling to his butt and her sitting in his lap. 

Alice was dead. 

The woman who stood beside him and helped him get through his first clients, the woman who brought him coffee when he didn’t have time to get it, who brought him lunches when he threw himself so hard into his work he refused to stop to eat. The girl who he sat with and joked around with, who always supported him through the moments when he thought he would relapse and fall back into drugs and alcohol. 

She was gone. Dead. 

Klaus felt the tears well up in his eyes, streaming down his cheeks as it truly hit home. 

Alice was dead. 

“There was blood everywhere.” Kisa cried. “Her throat was slit and there was so much blood.” 

Klaus felt his blood boil anger running through him and his power crawled uncomfortably in his stomach. This asshole had murdered his friend, one of his best friends. 

Klaus stared over Kisa’s shoulder, where the faint outline of Alice was forming, blood pouring down her shirt as she cried, her lips mouthing Klaus’s name over and over again. He could hear her voice, faintly and hoarse, the gurgle of blood almost drowning it out. 

_No._

He couldn’t deal with this, didn’t want to see her, see the blood. He could have prevented this, he could have helped close instead, or invited her over tonight so she wouldn’t have been there at all. He pushed the spirit away, ignoring her voice as it screamed at him, begging him to help her, not to go. 

He sobbed, his arms tightening around Kisa as he squeezed his eyes shut and sobbed freely, letting the despair in his stomach pool over. 

He was going to find this asshole, one way or another. This was more than just a few murders in their area, this was his friend. This was personal. He would find that bastard and see him locked away for years, make sure he never saw the light of day again. 

For now he sobbed, holding on to the shaking form of his best friend until they couldn’t cry anymore. Then they just laid there, the moonlight shining on them as they sat, silent and mourning the girl they both wished they could save.


	9. Fool

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ohhhh boy

Early the next morning Diego found himself back on that street, standing in front of the seemingly abandoned building with six knives strapped to his person and rage in his stomach. 

The building from the outside looked small, dark and easy to miss if you weren’t looking. The street was on the less populated side of town, mostly just small businesses that lined the streets. None of them were open around 6am on a Wednesday morning, so the streets were empty of people. Just him. 

He crept closer to the dark store, peering into the boarded off windows carefully. The inside was dark, and Diego wasn’t sure if he wanted someone to be inside or not. On one hand he wanted this over as soon as possible. But at the same time he was going in with no backup and no plan. 

He crept towards the wooden door, his other hand carefully pulling out a knife as his heart beat wildly. The rush of adrenaline he got was familiar, the same one he always got when going on a mission. He grabbed the doorknob and slowly opened it, the door creaking slightly as it swung open. Diego crept in, his eyes squinting to see through the darkness that was covering the room.

He walked in, searching the first room silently for any living thing. Seeing none, he moved on, searching the other three rooms efficiently and silently. No one was there, every single room abandoned. 

But someone had been there at some point, he could see that much. Evidence of food laid on the floors and counters, clothes neatly packed into piles next to a mattress that laid on the floor, covered with various blankets. Diego searched through the first room, obviously a bedroom that was once a store area, but found no incriminating evidence. Nothing that could identify whoever was living here. 

The next room was a tiny kitchen, like the store was a bakery of some sort. Food laid on the counters, half eaten and dirty plates lying in the sink. Nothing interesting at all, just a lot of shit that did nothing to ease the tense feeling in his shoulders. 

The anticipation was hitting him, because if this lead didn’t pan out, well he had nothing. No more leads other than a vague description. Sure he could get Klaus to summon more of the victims, but he didn’t want to pull his brother into this. He had done his part with the triplets. Diego wasn’t an idiot, he knew that Klaus struggled with ghosts, forcing him to talk to more of them seemed too cruel. 

That was a last-minute option, for where they were out of leads and the bodies started to build up again. For now Diego could do this by himself, he hadn’t worked and solved so many cases for this one to be his downfall. 

He crept into the last room, groping for the light switch. 

This room was pitch black, no light coming in from anywhere, he couldn’t make out anything without a little bit of light. 

He clicked the switch, filling the room with light and his heart stuttered. 

The room was covered in pictures and writing, the walls covered. He looked around, his eyes zeroing in to a picture of the second victim, Cody if he remembered his name. There was a single large picture of him pinned to the wall, a red marker scribbling out his face. Words and pages of books surrounding it, and Diego leaned in close to fully read the words. 

_Cody Van Eck. One of the 43. Powers to create mirages for short amounts of time. Seems to use it to create a cover around his hands so he could steal. Kleptomaniac. Taken care of._

Another one of the 43. That couldn’t be a coincidence this time. He should have listened to Klaus when he said that connection could be useful. 

He moved on, his eyes catching onto three photos of the Wright Triplets, their smiling faces also covered with heavy red pen. 

_Chloe Wright. Manipulates water. Doesn’t seem to use her power often except for convenience. Taken care of._

_Ethan Wright. Manipulates air. Uses his powers to help pull elaborate tricks. Taken care of._

_Kiana Wright. Manipulates fire. Terrified of her powers. Seen her use it only once in an accident. She didn’t talk for days afterwards. Taken care of._

Diego felt sick as he read on the other pieces, detailing their deaths in extended fashion, labelling every method he used to kill them. The efficiency and how he murdered them. The steps taken towards the actual killing. The amount of thought and work this psychopath had put in was astonishing. 

Diego’s eyes traveled to the next photo, the girl who was murdered the day before. Her photo was like the others, her face blurred out in red ink. He leaned close to read the words, more notes on hers than the other too. 

_Alice Megans. High endurance. Can run for miles without breaking a sweat or loosing any breath. Lives far away, will have to strike while at work. Will have to get a better scope of inside, maybe even get close to target. Useful to also observe the sixth target due to closeness. Taken care of._

The last note about her getting taken care off was hastily written, and Diego would guess that it was written quite recently, meaning the man was still bunking here. Was still living there, had been there as recently as a few hours ago. Diego’s hands itched for him to show up so he could take out his disgust on the man. 

Anyone who put this much thought into killing anyone had to be crazy, insane. The work was put perfectly, arranged and clinical. He read further down on the page, scanning the words. 

_They need to be taken out. They are much too powerful. The world will collapse if they continue to exist, this is the only way to stop it. Someone needs to play god, take control of the fates. It must be me, no one else will be able to. This is for the best. This is for the best. This is for the best._

The words were repeated over and over again, like he was trying to convince himself that this was needed, that he wasn’t just killing people for kicks. It was connected to the powers, the special kids. It had to be, there was no one else he could be talking about.

Dread was pooling in his stomach, and he knew that this wasn’t the end of the information, of the horror. There was one more person that the man had to kill, one more innocent until he deemed the city ‘safe’. 

He had been expecting it, the idea sitting at the back of his mind ever since he read the first person’s notes. But it was still a punch to the gut when he turned to the last photo and saw his brother staring back at him. 

Klaus photo had an entire wall dedicated to him, frantic scrawling words written around him in haste, slopping and barely legible. His face was the only one left unmarked by the red marker, but it was circled by it a star next to his face. 

Diego forced his stiff legs to move closer, his heart pounding with what felt like fear as he forced himself to read the words written about his brother’s head. 

_Klaus Hargreeves. The séance. The most famous of them all. Powers to manipulate death and airwaves. Potential for hidden powers I was unable to find during my scouting. Small hitch in the plan, he is unable to die. From what I have seen and documented it seems like he keeps on coming back from death, must have some link to his powers. Will have to collect for further testing after the other variables are taken care of, see just how far his powers extend. By far the most dangerous, will have to get close to fully engage._

Diego’s heart was pounding as he read on, his eyes scanning the words as he grabbed a knife, his hand squeezing it tightly. He had no clue what this man was planning, but he was going to go after his brother. Klaus, who he thought dead for the longest time. Klaus who was thriving in this life, surviving against all odds. He needed to help him, get him out of there as soon as possible. 

Diego felt the rage bubble up, and with a hoarse cry he stabbed the picture, his knife embedding in the wall behind it. He rested his forehead against the cool brick, taking deep breaths to control the simmering rage deep inside. 

He needed to find Klaus, before this psycho did. 

_____________________________

Diego was lucky that the police in LA didn’t seem to care about speeding, because the speed he was going at to get to Klaus was breaking so many records. 

He didn’t really care. All he cared about was the fact that there was a killer on the loose with his brother in mind, and the killer wasn’t at the only documented place of habitation and his brother was alone. 

He stopped only to call into Jake and give him the location of the house, telling him to get down there and that he would tell him everything later. Then he was off, his heart pounding and fear rising with every second he spent away from his brother. 

He had already lost him once, Klaus disappearing into the night with no words. He thought Klaus was dead once, and he never really got over it, actually just pushed it down like he did with Ben. But now he had Klaus again, and yeah things were rough between them, but he couldn’t lose Klaus. Not again. Not ever. 

He pulled up Klaus’s apartment with a screech, barely waiting for the car to stop before he was jumping out of it, racing up the stairs and pounding on Klaus’s door. His heart pumping. 

There was no reply. 

He knocked harder, the fear raising up in his throat and choking him, making his breath come out more strangled. 

He was raising his arm to punch down the door or something else when it swung open, revealing a sleep worn and red eyed Klaus. 

“Diego? What the fuck are you doing here so early?” Klaus said with a yawn, stumbling back when Diego pushed inside, walking to the windows that were _open, the goddamn idiot_ and shutting them, locking them quickly. 

“Diego?” Klaus asked again, sounding more awake, although the tired haunted look in his eyes didn’t fade. 

“You need to get out of this town now.” Diego ordered, his voice coming out a lot stronger than he thought it would. Klaus blinked. 

“What the hell? No way.” He argued stepping forwards. 

“Yes way, I need you out of here immediately, go back home and stay there until I’m back.” He told him while facing away, not wanting to see the look on his brothers face. 

“This is my home Diego.” Klaus said sharply, and that made him pause, the guilt strangling him for a long moment. “I’m not going anywhere.”

“Why not?” Diego cried, flinging his arms out. “Do you have a death wish?”

“They killed my friend!” Klaus screamed, tears welling up in his eyes and pouring over, streaming down his cheeks. “They murdered her brutally and I couldn’t do anything about it. I want to help you find that bastard. I can help! I-I can talk to more victims, maybe get a better description. I can hold the connection this time I swear. But I can’t leave, this is personal now Diego.” 

Diego took a minute thinking about that statement. Alice Megans, found at a barber shop. She must have worked alongside Klaus. But that wasn’t important. She was dead, Klaus wasn’t. 

“It’s more personal than you think.” He growled, and Klaus crossed his arms. “I found his base. He’s going after you next.” 

Klaus blinked. “Good. Then we know where he’s going to be. We can catch him.” 

Diego felt his anger flare up again. “No your idiot, I am not using you as bait. I’m getting you out of this city as soon as possible. No complaints, you don’t get an opinion in this.” He growled, turning again. “Pack your things or go without them.” 

“No.” Klaus said again, his voice strong. “I’m not going.” 

“Klaus I swear to god-“ Diego started turning around. 

“No!” Klaus screamed again, and Diego fell silent, not used to his usually mild-mannered brother getting so mad. “My friends are here Diego, one of them is dead. I’m not leaving.” 

“Klaus please.” Diego started, stepping closer and trying to place his hand on Klaus’s arm. He needed his brother out of here, he failed to save the other five, he couldn’t fail saving him. 

“I’m not some useless junkie anymore.” Klaus hissed, batting the arm away. “I know you still see me as the weak useless brother, the good for nothing siblings, but I’m better now. I can protect myself. My powers are stronger than you think and I can take care of myself. You may be too blind to see it, but I’m staying here and helping no matter what.” He growled, his eyes alight with fury. 

Diego looked down, seeing the faint blue glow to his hands, the unstable way Klaus’s eyes flickered. A few objects around the room seemed to be shaking, the lights above them flickering ever so slightly. His hand instinctively went to rest on his knives, unsure about what Klaus was doing. 

Klaus’s eyes followed them, a wicked smile gracing his lips. 

“What? Are you going to stab me Diego?” He whispered calmly, his blue flecked green eyes flickering up to meet Diego’s. “You afraid of me now brother? Afraid of what I can do?” He sing songed, a hysterical note to his voice. 

Diego’s heart was in his throat, shifting from foot to foot carefully. His hand never left his knife, resting gently on it. 

“I think you need to calm down Klaus.” He said lowly, trying his best to be reassuring. He had no clue what Klaus could do, and it gave him flashbacks to dealing with Vanya’s new destructive powers, the ones that were influenced by her emotions. 

“I’m staying.” Klaus repeated. 

“Klaus please, I need you to be safe.” He tried, but Klaus laughed. 

“You didn’t care about that when I was on the streets! You didn’t care about that when I got kidnapped and tortured. You have never cared about me before, so what’s so different now Diego? Ashamed to have your failures show up to haunt you? Am I reminding you of the things you didn't do? The people you couldn't protect? Am I unsettling you by living my life? Go back to pretending that I’m dirt, it’s easier for the both of us.” 

Guilt crawled up Diego’s throat, choking him and making him feel like he couldn’t breath. He had always cared, Klaus had to know that right? He loved his brother so much, even if he didn’t show it as often as he should. Klaus shook his head, stepping back, the blue glow fading as he collapsed into himself, sadness and grief overtaking the anger. 

“Klaus-” Diego said, his voice raw with emotions breaking through the surface.

“I’m going out for a walk.” He mumbled, turning away and walking out the door. 

Diego watched him go, grief and guilt clawing at his heart and leaving him feeling empty. 

______________________

Klaus just wanted to sleep, or to drink himself stupid, or get high. Any of the three would be welcomed at this time. 

His fight with Diego drained him, leaving him feel hollowed out, like someone scraped out his insides with a spoon. He walked outside, plopping himself down outside his building, the sun rising in the corner of his eye. He ignored it like he ignored the tears streaking down his cheeks. 

He just wanted this to be over with, he wanted his friend back, he wanted his life back. He wanted Diego gone, his siblings a distant thought like always. 

He sobbed, biting down on his hand to muffle it. 

“Klaus?” Ben asked, sitting down next to him. 

“Not in the mood.” He mumbled, looking sideways at his brother. 

“I know.” Ben soothed. “But, maybe he’s right? You can’t do anything if your dead.” 

Klaus ignored the anger pushing up again, knowing his brother meant well. 

“I can’t turn my back on this Ben. I just can’t.” He whispered, the tears blurring his vision again. 

“It’s okay.” Ben said lamely, unable to comfort his brother in the way he wanted to. 

“Klaus?” Ben said after a moment, the slight note of worry making him look up. “Something’s wrong-“

That’s all he managed to get out before Klaus felt something hard hit his head, sending him stumbling into darkness. 

________________________________

After ten minutes Diego decided Klaus had enough time to cool down, they needed to talk more. 

Diego made his way down the stairs, his eyes darting around for Klaus’s form. 

He couldn’t see him anywhere. He continued to look, his eyes scanning the area in search for his lanky brother. But he couldn’t see him down either street, and eh worry started to form. 

“Klaus?” He called out, turning in a full circle like his brother was standing behind him like a creep. He wasn’t. “Klaus!”

“Diego!” A disjointed voice called out, and he whipped around, his eyes searching the area until it locked on the semi visible form fading in and out of view.

“Ben?” He asked breathlessly, the image of his dead brother flickering in front of him. 

“No time!” His brother screeched waving his arms around as his face flickered out of view. “Someone grabbed Klaus. You need to find him!” Ben screamed, and Diego’s heart leapt into his throat. 

“Find him!” Ben called again, before disappearing from view completely. 

“Ben?” He called out, stepping closer before turning around, the information processing. 

Someone kidnapped his brother. He had a hunch on who it was. 

_Will have to collect for further testing._

“Klaus!” Diego screamed, his heart thudding and hysteria creeping into every inch of him. “Klaus!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :)


	10. Jack's Song

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THis chapter was really long so I split it up into two, the second part should be up sometime tomorrow. Also, I made it a tiny bit obvious to who the killer was, and to those of your who made the connection I'm very proud of you. And if you didn't well I hope you are pleasantly surprised as you read this chapter lmao.

He woke up to darkness. 

He knew his head was uncovered, no feeling of rough cloth around his eyes or head. So he had to be in a dark room of some sorts. His hands and legs were tied tightly to a chair, and when he pulled against them there was no give.

Klaus blinked slowly, his head pounding with every pulse of his heart and he looked around. He couldn’t make anything out in the inky darkness. 

He pushed down the panic, the memories, the fear. He got kidnapped again, nothing that new with his life. He had to just hope that he could get out of this, or maybe Diego would come looking for him. He didn’t let his hopes get too high though, there was a chance that he was stuck on his own like usual. 

“Ben?” He whispered when he couldn’t see the outline of his brother anywhere. Why did the little jerk go? Ben wouldn’t willingly leave at a time like this and he could feel the connection linking him to the real world soon. He hoped his brother would come back soon, Klaus was always so much calmer with his ghostly brother by his side. 

He heard footsteps walking towards him, and he took a deep breath in, ready to face whoever was coming to see him. 

The door swung open, flooding the room with light and stinging Klaus’s eyes as he flinched away from the light. The ache in his head increased, white hot pain striking behind his eyes. He must have a concussion or something. 

The last time he had one of these was five months ago when he went to a new roller rink with Kisa, she sucked at it and crashed into him, sending him tumbling to the ground. She brought him so much chocolate as an apology. 

He needed to pay attention, he cursed him and his wandering mind, letting his eyes flutter open again and adjust to the brightness of the room. There was a figure watching him, flickering from side to side like he was going in and out of focus. 

Then, he was gone, disappearing within a second. 

“Shit.” Klaus muttered, looking around to see where the man went. Did he teleport? Sort of like Five could? He blinked, letting himself react when he didn’t appear again. 

He cursed himself for not getting a better look at whoever the man was, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. He wouldn’t do himself any good if he was hyperventilating and panicking. This was normal, just like when he was kidnapped before Vietnam, before Dave. 

Klaus felt something shift in front of him, a small puff of air falling across his cheek, like someone had silently walked up and was currently standing a few inches away, staring at him. 

His eyes flew open, staring out into the deep brown eyes staring back at him. 

He startled, kicked back but going nowhere, the chair not moving as he flinched. 

And Jesus Christ he knew who that was. 

“You know, if you don’t like the way I cut your hair you can just get another hair stylist. This seems a bit extreme.” He said breathlessly to Jack, his most frequent client in the past few months. Who was now standing in front of him, his dark eyes searching Klaus’s face like Klaus was some sort of test subject. 

“You were an okay hairdresser.” Jack told him, leaning back and stepping away from Klaus. 

“Rude, I was the best.” Klaus defended, and deflect, deflect, deflect. If he kept on deflecting he wouldn’t have to think of the mess that he was in, wouldn’t have to think of what deep shit he was in right now. 

“Alice was the best.” Jack said carefully, his voice even. “But I killed her.” 

Klaus felt the rage build in his veins, but he pushed it down. He couldn’t let this asshole get under his skin. He took a calming breath, collecting his face and setting it into an indifferent smile. 

“You could’ve just gone to a different barber shop.” He said mildly. 

Jacks lips curled into a parody of a smile, too cruel and sharp to be genuine. 

“You miss her don’t you?” He asked with a laugh, the noise cutting into Klaus’s brain. “I watched you mourn her, watched you cry and sob for her. Are you mad at me? I had to kill her.” 

“No you didn’t.” Klaus snapped, the anger coiling again. “You could have left her alone.”

“No I couldn’t.” Jack said, his hand reaching out to cup Klaus’s cheek. He tried to pull away, but the grip tightened, keeping Klaus trapped in his hand. “You don’t understand Klaus. We all need to die. This world is not ready for powers, for people with magic. It will destroy the world and everybody on it. I am doing the world a favour.” 

Klaus blinked, thinking dully of Vanya yelling at them, her eyes glowing white as she screamed at them for their injustices. How Five said she would bring the apocalypse had they not stopped it a day before it was suppose to happen. Maybe Jack had a point. 

“So you're fine with killing innocent people for something they have no control over?” He asked bitterly, because that was wrong, it was so wrong on so many levels. 

“I don’t like it.” Jack shrugged, his thumb caressing Klaus’s cheek. Klaus wanted him to stop touching him, the touch repelling him with disgust. “But it’s what’s needed to be done. You out of everyone should understand that we are dangerous. What good can your powers do? You could end the world if you wanted, so could so many others. Who am I to let that kind of power go unchecked? Why do we get to hold it? What makes us so special?” 

Klaus closed his eyes, taking a breath. “I don’t have any answers to those questions.” He said weakly. 

He couldn’t pretend it didn’t make sense, that the words were wrong. But killing innocents was wrong, they weren’t just animals you could kill of whenever. 

“You should.” Jack said mildly, pulling back and walking away, wandering behind Klaus. He tensed, listening to Jack work behind him, uneasy with being unable to see his captor. 

He reached out for Ben, trying to summon him or make him visible or anything. He desperately craved his brother’s presence right now, telling him that everything was okay. That he would get out of this and all would be alright. He wanted Ben there, telling him how to react and guiding him on how to not fuck everything up. 

But he was on his own, and he could feel the cold barrel of a gun on the back of his neck, pressing against his nape. 

Now, Klaus knew guns. Had used them plenty of times. He knew how it worked, how to check the safety and turn it off, how to look for bullets and load them, how to aim and shoot in the most lethal way. He also knew what it felt like pressing against his skin, a threat he always ignored. 

He closed his eyes, preparing for the end, oddly content to just sit down and die. But Jack didn’t shoot him. They sat there in silence for a long while, the clock ticking in the background. A silent game of wits, to see who would break first. 

“You get why I have to do this right?” Jack whispered, and he sounded regretful. “I can’t let you go Klaus. I don’t want to kill you, I didn’t want to kill the others. I don’t want to die.” 

“Your one of us too.” Klaus breathed out, the connection being made in an instant. He felt the gun leave his neck, and Jack walked back in front of him, sitting crossed legged below Klaus and looking up at him with surprisingly vulnerable eyes. 

“I am.” He whispered. “You should be able to see it. Look Klaus, please.” 

Klaus wasn’t sure what he was meant to do, but he focused on the man, his eyes scanning for any signs of powers. A small flicker of something moved inside the man, a black hue to his skin, one that seemed to shift every few seconds. Something was shifting inside the man, and as Klaus watched he _glitched_.

One second, Jack was sitting in front of him, whole and still. The next it was like his soul jumped from his body, a vision of himself flinching and shaking its head, casting a second version of him slightly to the side before launching back into one. Klaus blinked. 

“What the hell.” He muttered, squinting in confusion. 

“Ever since a child I haven’t been whole." Jack told him, a sad smile on his lips. "Every inch of me was constantly being ripped apart and put back together. I can phase in and out of this dimension, shifting into something so much darker, filled with ghosts that screamed a single name. _Klaus_. I have been looking for you for years, trying to find the person who the ghosts are obsessed with, and now I have you.” 

Jack laughed, hysterical and slightly shaky, the laugh of a mad man. 

“I listened to their stories, they told me so much about you. About the power you had rolling under your skin. If I jump there now I can see it, the outline of you although you are not of that dimension. But you’re not from here either. You don’t belong Klaus.” 

He remembered those words, someone else a lot closer to him telling him that he didn’t belong, never belonged. 

Klaus never wanted to belong, he just wanted to exist, to be accepted and loved. 

“You can pass through objects, phasing in and out of reality.” Klaus shakily filled in. “That’s how you manage to get in and out of houses so easily, how you can avoid camera seeing you and disable them so you can kill people.” 

It was brilliant, perfect for killing and murdering, no one would ever see him unless he wanted to be seen. 

“Cool isn’t it? Took me a while to realize what I can do and what I needed to do. But you, you were the one that always killed me to think of hurting.” Jack said with a laugh, leaning forwards and touching Klaus’s knee. 

Klaus cringed away from the touch, pulling away as much as he could. But Jack followed him, his hand massaging Klaus’s leg in what Klaus thought was supposed to be comforting but missed by a mile. 

“I’m flattered.” He squeaked, his compose quickly faltering with every second. His emotions were swinging like crazy, alternating between anger and fear like it couldn’t pick which one to focus on. 

“I don’t want to kill you.” Jack said again, sounding like a small child. “I want to know more about you, your fascinating. But I need to do this, to save the world from the rest of you, and then myself.” He laughed slightly, his head resting beside his hand on Klaus’s knee. 

“If you don’t want to kill me, why did you kidnap me?” He asked shortly, glaring down at the man resting at his feet. 

“You can’t die easily Klaus. I’ve seen it, so I want to keep you around for longer. But there’s another player in this game now. Normally it was just the six of you living here, conveniently in one area, but now there’s a seventh. Your brother.” Jack said with a smile. 

Klaus’s stomach turned to ice and he snarled at the man. “You stay the hell away from Diego.” 

Because Jack was right, Klaus couldn’t die. The night at the rave proved that. The countless overdoses, the times he should have died only to gasp away moments later, miraculously healed. He knew he was pretty hard to kill, his soul apparently resistant to death. But Diego? Jack could kill Diego in a heartbeat, even if Diego was prepared for him. It was hard to attack someone you couldn’t see before they were right on top of you. 

“I can’t promise you that Klaus. Your leading him right to me.” Jack mentioned, pulling away and standing back up, his image blurring until he disappeared from view, appearing a few feet away. 

“Your using me as bait.” He said breathlessly, despair clawing at his heart. He couldn’t be the reason Diego died, couldn’t put up with watching another brother die in front of his eyes. “Jack please, leave him alone. Send him back home or something, but please don’t kill him.” He begged, probably would’ve gotten onto his knees if he wasn’t strapped to the chair. 

“We need to move on. Test just how far your powers go.” Jack said, no emotions in his voice as he pulled the gun out and turned off the safety, aiming it at Klaus. “Ever wondered just what you could come back from?” Jack asked innocently, and Klaus couldn’t even fully feel the fear and panic before the bang filled the small room and all he knew was pain. 

Then the world went dark once again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a little note saying that I love all of my readers so much!! <3


	11. Dear

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some more Klaus angst because why not

He woke up to pain and bright lights that blinded him. 

His chest ached with pain he had rarely felt before, making him gasp and sob as he jerked back into this world, his heart kickstarting and racing a thousand miles per hour. 

He couldn’t see anything past the bright white light above him, couldn’t feel anything other the blinding pain or hear anything over the ringing in his ears. He tried to turn to cough, get the bloody taste out of his mouth, but his arms and feet were strapped to an unmoving surface, refusing to move enough for him to properly to turn over from where he lay. 

“Calm down Klaus, your going to be okay.” Someone spoke softly over him, familiar fingers combing through his hair. He leaned into the touch, whimpering slightly as the pain lessened. 

He didn’t know where he was, couldn’t fully remember what happened, why he was in so much pain. 

It came to him with a crash, remembering getting taken off the street, remembered Jack explaining to him everything, remembered the gunshot, and then nothing. 

Did that asshole really shoot him?

Where was he now? What was going on?

His eyes were starting to adjust, the brightness fading a bit as his eye focused. Someone was above him, whispering soothing words and running a soothing hand through his hair. 

He knew the voice, knew the touch that he had become so used to. 

“Kisa?” He mumbled, turning his head to get a better look at her. She was standing above him, a sad look on her face and tears swimming in her eyes. “What are you doing here?” 

“I’m sorry Klaus.” She whispered, her voice soft and rough and Klaus felt something inside him break. The last piece holding him together snapping as he looked into her eyes and saw guilt swimming through them. 

“No.” He whispered, tears threatening to pour over his eyes again. “You didn’t.”

“I had to!” She cried, tears pouring down her cheeks. Klaus swore the pain in his chest doubled. “He threatened me, my family. He threatened everyone I know. I didn’t want to Klaus. I had no choice.” She said, grabbing a hold of his hand. He wanted to pull away, but he was strapped down, so he settled for leaving his hand limp in hers. 

“What did you do?” He asked, feeling numb. 

“Klaus please.” She begged, but the sound did nothing but twist the knife deeper into his chest. 

“What did you do?” He demanded, his voice cracking on the last word. 

“I told him everything.” She confessed, sobbing once again. “I made sure you got him as a client so he could be closer to you. I told him where you lived and your everyday routine. I didn’t want to. He held me to gunpoint, threatened to kill me. I’m so sorry.” 

He turned away from her, bile climbing up his throat. 

His best friend had betrayed him. Sold him out to a psychopath that wanted to test and kill him. Who wanted to kill his brother. Who killed their friend. A small voice in the back of his head told him she had no choice, but there was always options. She could have told him, they could have faced this together. 

“Let me go.” He begged, turning back to stare in her eyes. “He’s going to hurt my brother, I need to go help him.” 

Kisa shook her head, backing away from him. “I can’t.” 

“Why the hell not?” He hissed, anger bubbling up. She flinched back slightly. 

“I’m lucky he even let me here, if I let you go he’ll kill both of us, then your brother too. He’d catch us.” She said, and it made sense. Klaus knew it made sense. But it still hurt. Hurt like hell in fact. 

“Please go.” He whispered, closing his eyes to stop the tears from leaking out. 

“Klaus.” Kisa said, a note of desperation in her voice, but he didn’t respond. Not when she squeezed his hand again. Not when she brushed her hand over his forehead and planted a soft kiss to it. 

He heard her walk away, and he let her. 

God he wanted a drink right about now.

___________________________

“Your awake.” Jack observed as he walked back in, and Klaus glared at him. “Let me help you up.” 

Jack came closer, untying Klaus one arm, but managing to rope it to the chair again moments later. Soon Klaus was off the stupid table he had been lying on and back onto his favourite little chair. He glanced at the bloody tools that laid on the table, a bullet shining with blood sitting among them. 

The wound in his chest ached with the connection, the bandage rubbing against his skin, tied a bit too tight. 

“You’re an asshole.” Klaus muttered, to tired and defeated to come up with anything else. 

“Thanks.” Jack mutter with a wink. “I have an offer.” 

“What?” Klaus asked, blinking rapidly to focus back on the mind after everything went fuzzy for a moment.

“I’ve already said I admire you Klaus, so I want to give you free range. Any question you want to ask, I will answer. In return, you help fix me.” Jack offered, and Klaus took a deep breath. 

Did he know what Jack meant when he said to fix him? Hell no. Was he still going to agree? Hell yeah. 

Why? Because Ben was 90% of his impulse control and the little asshole was still missing. He better be doing something vey, very important at the moment. 

“Sure.” He agreed, ignoring the way Jack’s grin widened. “First question. Why the fuck are you doing this again?”

“Because when I was younger I knew a little boy with curly hair and the most beautiful eyes. And he was my best friend. I killed him at the age of three. Wanted to show him my powers and I phased right through him, destroyed him at a molecular level.” Jack told him, his eyes downcast. 

“I just asked for a simple answer, not your whole god damn sob story.” Klaus muttered over the horror he felt growing. “You can’t generalize all 43 of us due to one little mistake you made as a child.” He pointed out. 

“How many people died while you and your siblings were playing hero?” Jack asked, wandering around the room, his form flickering slightly. “How many people has Allison affected with her rumors? How many people has Diego stabbed? Luther killed? What about Five? What about dear old Ben? Your all killers. All 43 of us don’t belong. We only cause death and destruction. And I’m the only one who had the guts to do something about it.”

Klaus stayed silent, his eyes downcast as he pondered that. Jack, unfortunately, had a point. They made mistakes all the time, and yeah those mistakes often lead to death or grief, but did they deserve to die because of that?

Maybe they did. But Jack talked about why they were allowed that kind of power, who decided he could play god? He had met god, and she didn’t care about them at all. She didn’t care if he lived or died, didn’t care what they did or how they did it. So why did Jack decide he could have the power over their lives. 

“What do you do once you kill them all?” He asked, shutting his train of thought down. “When it’s only you left.”

“I turn the knife onto myself. I end it once and for all.” He replied instantly, his voice shaky but determined. “Then the world can be safe. 43 dead for the sake of seven billion. Not a bad trade off is it?”

Klaus didn’t respond. 

“You have to understand Klaus, please. You out of everyone should understand the pain we bring. What about Ben? Your brother didn’t deserve to die, didn’t deserve to spend his short life dealing with monsters under his skin.” Jack walked towards him again, going to put his hand on Klaus’s shoulder but his hand went through, the slight coolness instead of solid warmth reminding Klaus of a ghost’s touch. “I want you out of everyone to understand.”

“Why?” Klaus asked with a dry laugh. “What makes me so special?”

“Everything.” Jack whispered. “The stories the dead have about you, of a boy who not only can and has communicated past the veil, but has returned from it multiple times? It’s magnificent.” Jack smiled at him, reaching out to poke the half-healed hole in his chest, pain spreading out like a wildfire as Klaus gasped, seeing stars. “I shot you. Right in the chest. You were dead for almost an hour after I took the bullet out, and now here you are. Breathing, living, moving. Goes against nature. You are fascinating.”

“It’s just something I can do. Not very useful.” He muttered, not used to someone knowing so much about that one power. Only he and Ben were fully aware of it, well and Dave but that was an entirely different story. 

“It’s incredibly useful, you are immortal, and that brings so many questions. Will you stop aging? Can you die from old age or will you keep growing older and older forever? Just what can you come back from? You are a wonderful study, something in the world that is truly baffling. The other special kids, all interesting in their own ways. But I’ve grown up listening to your stories, your practically my hero.” 

“Tip for a nice fan. Maybe don’t kidnap them? That tends to make people hate you.” Klaus said dryly. Jack only laughed at him, the sound grating on his ears. He hated that laugh, really he did. 

“I don’t want you to like me Klaus. Your nothing but a guinea pig. Someone to keep me company as I complete my job.” He said casually, glitching across the room. Klaus closed his eyes, his heart beating a million miles per hour. He had no idea how to get out of this, to escape where he was being held captive and get his brother out of town so Jack wouldn’t kill him. The absurdness of the situation was hitting him, and he had never felt so helpless. 

“Why can’t you let me and my family live? Please Jack, they don’t deserve it. None of us do.” He said softly, he couldn’t reason with this asshole, but he could attempt to beg.

“Your so selfish.” Jack chided. “I thought you liked attention? Well you have mine know. I can let you watch as I kill your siblings one by one, slowly dismember them while you watch. Because they deserve this, they deserve to be killed until there is no more suffering.” 

“There will still be suffering!” Klaus protested with a bitter laugh. “People will still suffer without us. People are suffering now and it’s not because of us. You can’t solve suffering by yourself. It’s something people need to do for themselves.” 

“43 less reasons to suffer. That’s all I need.” Jack whispered, walking to the door. “Your brother should be finding us soon. Stick around here while I prepare for him.” 

With that Klaus was left alone, an ache in his heart that didn’t go away no matter how much he screamed for help. 

_______________________

Klaus grew restless within minutes of being alone. 

That was no surprise of course, he was always a restless child, always bouncing off the walls when he had no entertainment. Or jumping on the bed, or creating something to entertain himself. 

Sitting alone in the dim room with nothing but his thoughts was beyond hard. 

His thoughts wandered to Diego. 

Diego, who was probably still searching for him, probably close to finding him. Sweet Diego who cared too much in the wrong ways. 

He was still pissed at his brother, hurt by the fact that despite working so hard to get where he could, Diego refused to see it. Refused to see him as anything other than the man he used to be. And yeah, he was still beyond messed up. He still got flashbacks, bouts of anxiety and depression and PTSD, but he was better now. 

Diego was coming to find him, and when he did show up Jack was going to kill him. Slit his neck like he had with the others, or shoot him like he shot him. 

Neither would end up well for Diego, and Klaus had absolutely no way of warning him because he was still trapped here. The straps around his hands and legs refused to move no matter how much he struggled again them. He wanted out of here, away from the crazy man who thought the answer to the world's problems was killing 43 innocent people. Who was going to not only kill Diego but his other siblings too. 

If Diego died because of him, Klaus would never be able to forgive himself. He didn’t want the last words he said to his brother to be in anger, said to make his brother hurt. Sure, Diego was an asshole a fair amount of the time, but Klaus loved him. He couldn’t lose another brother. Not after Ben. The thought made his chest tighten with fear, making his heart pound and blood race.

He took a deep breath, calming the anxiety he could feel racing through his veins. He needed to calm down or else he wouldn’t get anything done. Sending himself into a panic attack would do nothing for himself or his siblings. 

He needed to do something though, but his powers were useless. He could try to levitate an object over, but nothing in sight could help him. He could levitate him and the chair out the door, but chances are he’d get caught and well that wasn’t an image he wanted to be remembered for. There was no ghosts he could summon, no one that would help him other than Ben, who was still not there for some reason. 

That was the most worrying thing, the absence of his brother. Truth was, they had barely left each others side ever since Ben’s death, other than Klaus year in Vietnam where Ben couldn’t follow. The absence of his brother was hard to deal with, hard to think about. 

Where was Ben? Klaus knew he was around here somewhere, so why wasn’t he with Klaus? Ben never left him when he was going through a hard time, and getting kidnapped by a crazy murderer defiantly counted as a rough time for him. It was weird sitting there without Ben in the background, either comforting him or grilling him, depending on his mood. 

But now there was only silence. So much silence he always wished to summon some of his normal screaming ghosts just to fill up the space around him. He didn’t, but the urge was there. 

How was he going to get out of this? And what would happen after? 

His mind wandered to Kisa, and a strike of white-hot pain shot through his chest, making him ache deep inside. 

His best friend who he depended on, who helped save him from himself over and over again. She was his other half, the only person he could tell anything and know she wouldn’t judge him, think of him as less of a person. She believed everything he said, never thought of him worthless, never made him feel like an outsider in his own life. 

She had sold him without a thought. 

No, that was wrong. She said she had no choice, she claimed that Jack threatened to kill her and her family. He understood, he got why Kisa did what she did. 

But at the same time the bitter sting of betrayal was still crawling in his gut, making him want to scream and cry and just stop existing. He wanted this pain to stop, to go back to his blissful life filled with sunshine and happiness. He wished he could go back in time and stop this all from happening. Stop Jack from entering town, from deciding murdering people was a good idea. Wanted to stop Kisa from selling out her best friend in exchange for her life, wanted to stop Diego from coming into town, stop Alice from dying. 

He just wanted to stop this all. Life was good, everyone was happy and content. Sure, there was problems, but they were happy. Klaus, Kisa and Alice lived in peace, taking it day by day, Diego was living the life down with his new job. Now they were suffering, broken. The town was in dismay, Klaus was fraying at the edges, Kisa was distraught, and Diego could be possibly killed in the next few hours. 

And Klaus was sitting here, completely useless to stop any of it all. A simple chess piece unable to move, to protect anyone. He was useless, powerless, good for nothing. 

He just wanted everyone to be safe again. He wanted everything to be normal again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter explores what the hell Diego has been doing during this time!!


	12. Self Control

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, me and my family went for a really abrupt vacation to hawaii and I didn't have my computer or wifi so that's why this chapter is super late. I didn't forget about all of you I promise!!

To say that Diego was a little frantic was a bit of an understatement. 

A big understatement really. 

He didn’t know how to properly describe the feeling running through him, the rushing in his veins and the overwhelming feeling that he was _running out of goddamn time._

He needed a plan, he was good at those. Plans were always his thing, the thing he was able to do in split seconds. He could analyze a situation and react quicker than anyone else on the force, and yeah sure, sometimes his plans were stupid, but they were effective and that’s all that mattered. 

He used to always mock Luther for his plans, which took a lot of time to form, but here he was, no plan, no leads, and nothing but the anger and anxiety clawing up his stomach. He needed help, someone to help him clear his mind and think about this logically. 

 

He fumbled with his phone, his hands shaking with adrenaline. He hated asking for help, but ever since joining the force he was beginning to realize that sometimes problems were too big for him to deal with alone. So he called up the only other person he knew he could trust. 

“Officer Lonsdale speaking, what’s your damage Hargreeves?” Jakes lighthearted voice filtered through the phone. “Good catch earlier by the way, this place is defiantly the hideout of our- “ 

“He’s got my brother.” Diego cut him off, sliding down the wall to sit on the ground outside the building. He didn’t know what else to say, how to explain to his partner the panic he was going through.

“What?” Jake said, all joking aside now. “Tell me everything.” 

“I found out that the murderer w-was targeting my brother next, so I went to warn him and it didn’t go well. He went out outside for a minute and he’s gone now, no t-trace of him at all.” Diego filled in, trying to stop his voice from shaking. His stutter was coming back a little, his mind tripping over his words. 

“Okay, uh, I’m at the house you sent me to right now but I’m leaving now.” Sure enough, Diego could hear a car door swing shut on the other side off the phone. “Where are you? Do you need me to pick you up?” 

Diego felt a rush of gratefulness for his partner who was willing to drop anything for any reason Diego gave him. “I’m at K-Klaus’s building still. I don’t know w-what to do.”

He hated the words as soon as they were out of his mouth. He was Number Two goddamn it, one of the best of the umbrella academy and one of the best police officers in his town. Yet here he was with no clue what to do. He had to be better than that, needed to be better than that. 

“Okay, I’m going to go to the station and check out the surrounding cam recorders, see if they caught anything. You sit tight and snoop around. Don’t do anything stupid. I’ll call you with an update as soon as I can.” Jake filled in, immediately falling into the role Diego was too incompetent to fill. 

“Got it.” He said, hanging up and throwing the phone into his pocket and letting his face fall into his hands. He took a steading breath, trying to fight back the anger building in his gut. 

How could he have been so stupid? Here he was, lecturing Klaus about how he had to leave, how it wasn’t safe, but then he let Klaus go off alone just because of a simple fight? How could he have been so careless, especially when it was his brother’s life on the line? It was stupid things like that that got people hurt, got people killed. 

He couldn’t deal with another dead brother. 

“Hey asshole, you going to just sit there or are you going to do something?” 

Speaking of dead brothers. 

“Ben?” He asked, looking up in surprise. 

Sure enough, a slightly faded and slightly blue tinted version of Ben was standing before him, looking slightly shocked. 

And Jesus Christ it was Ben. 

But Ben was dead, had been dead for years, torn apart by the very thing he was suppose to control. How was he here? Either way, Ben was standing in front of him now, looking surprised but also very angry. 

“You can see me?” Ben asked, his eyebrow furrowing in confusion. “That sneaky bastard managed to do it.”

“What?” Diego sputtered, still in slight shock from seeing his _dead brother in front of him._

“That doesn’t matter, I know where Klaus is. We need to go now.” Ben said, making an inpatient gesture with his hands. 

Diego shook the shock from his skin and stood up, steeling his nerves and wrapping everything up in a pretty bow and pushing it away from his mind. He had to focus, had to clear his mind of all the stupid thoughts and save Klaus. 

Ben was already walking to the car, his steps sure and Diego followed him a little bit like a lost puppy. But a very manly, scary lost puppy. 

Diego opened the door of the car where Ben was standing, his arms crossed and looking annoyed. He looked so much different from the soft, easily startled boy that died all those years ago. Diego didn’t focus on that, didn’t want to think that way. 

“Where are we going?” Diego asked when he started the car, Ben joining him in the passenger seat. 

“I’ll give you the instructions as we go.” Ben replied shortly. 

“How do you know what your doing?” He asked carefully, a bit skeptical about following orders from a ghost. 

“Klaus is calling me. I can feel him tugging me to go back to him, I just need to follow the string and it’ll bring you right to him.” Ben told him, and Diego hummed in understanding as he pulled away from the building. “Turn left.”

The drive was silent for the most part, both men focusing on their own spiralling thoughts. Diego was trying to formulate a plan other than ‘beat this dude up’ and Ben was focusing on getting them there quickly. 

Ben flickered slightly, his image disappearing for a second or two before glitching slightly. 

“Ben, you good there buddy?” Diego asked lowly, hoping that his brother won’t disappear. He was the one leading him towards Klaus, and also the ghosts form of his brother helped calm his nerves a bit. It was nice to have Ben around again, even if he was dead. 

“He’s panicking or something I think.” Ben said, his voice sounding faint. “He’s really trying to tug me to him. He’s desperate.” He sounded torn. 

“So go to him!” Diego urged, his eyes flickering off the road to watch his brother fade in and out of view. 

“I won’t be able to find you again if I do.” Ben grumbled. “I’m better here helping you than I am watching him do whatever.” 

Diego wasn’t sure how to respond to that one. 

“Dee, the connections breaking. I don’t think I can stay corporal for much longer.” Ben warned. “Your still too far away, you need to pull over, get your cop friend out here. Just wait until I show up again, shouldn’t be long.” 

“What? Ben you can’t just leave.” Diego argued. 

“Don’t have much choice.” Ben admitted, his voice and image fading again. “I’m barely holding on, I think Klaus is panicking or passing out or something. Trust me, stay here.”

And with that Ben was gone, flickering into nothingness. 

Great. Just great.

____________________________

Diego had pulled into a small road stop motel, charging by the hour, as he waited for Ben to hurry up and appear again. 

He had no idea how ghosts worked, how Klaus worked. Was Ben still hanging around? Watching him? Or did they stop existing whenever Klaus didn’t want them to. He found he didn’t really care, as long as Ben showed up again soon. 

A couple of hours had passed and every second he waited he felt the ants crawling under his skin get more urgent. He needed to find Klaus now, before something really bad happened. Every second Klaus was in the other man's grasp made his chances of getting out safe lesson. Jake was already on his way, but the stress and helplessness was starting to get to him. 

He had practically worn a hole in the cheap carpet from all his restless pacing, feeling like something was trapped under his skin and if he stopped moving it would tear him apart. He had a few knives in hand, twirling them around and something throwing them into the wall, the dull thud normally calmed his nerves, but not now. 

He wanted to go out, to find this man and save Klaus because every second was a second that could be leading Klaus to a fate worse than death. But without Ben, he had no idea where to go, and despite his research on the crappy computer in the room, he couldn’t find any place that screamed ‘psycho killer’ in the area. 

It was almost nighttime, the sun lowering in the sky when Jake rolled up. Diego stormed out, meeting him halfway. 

“How you holding up?” Jake asked softly, his hand reaching out to rest of Diego’s arm. He ignored it. 

“Did you find anything?” He asked, avoiding the question. Jake sighed, but didn’t push. 

“Nada, this guy is good. Completely destroyed the footage around your brother’s apartment as soon as Klaus stepped outside. Came back on after they left, around when you came out. What is this dudes deal Diego? You know things I don’t.” Jake said, and Diego looked away, walking back inside. 

What was this guys deal? How could he manage to do all these things without being detected? How was he gaining access to these cameras? Why was he targeting the 43? There was an endless amount of questions, but no answers. He bet Klaus already had them all, if he wasn’t dead. 

No. 

Klaus wasn’t dead, Diego would know if he was. Would be able to tell. Klaus was alive and kicking and everything was going to be okay. They would go and kick this guys ass, then he and Klaus could go back home, and then what?

Klaus had a life here, friends, a job, people who cared about him. Diego couldn’t rip him away from that, he knew that he had fucked up with Klaus, but he had to try to repair it. 

He needed to focus, he was getting off track again. 

They lounged around the motel for half an hour, researching and preparing and waiting for a signal in the form of his dead brother to show up. 

Sure enough, he did. God bless Ben. 

“Diego?” Ben’s voice rang out somewhere around midnight, startling the two policemen awake with the noise. 

“What the hell?” Jake muttered, half asleep. 

“Jake, meet my dead brother Ben.” Diego said, already up and grabbing his knives. It was showtime. 

“For the record,” Jake said with a groan as he sat up and stared at Ben. “I hate your family.”

__________________________

Ben lead them all the way to an apartment building twenty minutes away, his form getting stronger and brighter the closer they got. Diego felt the anticipation building in him, Jake was driving so his hands were available to twirl a knife between his fingers. He could already feel the anger building up again, basing around this asshole who thought he could run around threatening Diego’s family. 

“You okay for this?” Jake asked lowly, side eyeing him as they drove up. 

“Even if I wasn’t, you’re not getting me out of this.” Diego replied, and Jake simply nodded. 

“I’m going to check up with Klaus. Don’t do anything stupid.” Ben said, his eyes trained on the building. His eyes then flickered back and met Diego’s. “Find him, please. Don’t mess this up.”

Diego nodded, ignoring the dig and watching as Ben made to leave before turning around again. 

“I’ve missed you Dee.” He said softly, then he was gone, fading away and presumably running back to Klaus’s side. 

Diego swallowed the emotion in his throat, taking a deep breath and focusing on the task. Jake was unclipping his gun, and they nodded to each other before walking towards the building. 

God he hoped Klaus was okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't really like this chapter all too much but honestly I just wanted to get something out for you guys. Not proof read because I am jet lagged and tired lmao.


	13. Snake and the Prairie Dogs

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really bad at writing action whoops sorry

When Klaus saw Ben appear in front of him he almost started crying. 

The sight of his deceased brother brought him immense relief, the feeling crashing over him like a wave. Ben was here, Ben could help him. 

“Ben.” He sighed, blinking back tears. He wasn’t alone anymore. “I take back every single bad word I have called you today. Where the fuck have you been?”

“Helping Diego, don’t worry Klaus. He’s here to get you out.” Ben soothed, looking just as relieved to see him. 

The calm he felt when Ben showed up quickly dissipated, panic filling him instead. 

“Diego’s here?” He asked, hoping that it wasn’t true. He couldn’t have led his brother here. 

“Yeah, him and his partner are about to come inside. I jumped ahead.” Ben said, confusion pulling at his face. 

“Shit.” He cursed, closing his eyes. “It’s a trap Ben. Jack’s waiting for him, he’s going to kill Diego.” 

Ben blinked, understanding dawning on his face. “Crap.”

“You have to go warn them.” Klaus hissed, struggling on his binding again. He managed to find the focus to throw some of his power out like a net, wrapping Ben up in it so he could stay visible to people other than him. “But first, tell me if there’s anything useful behind me so I can get out of here.”

Ben quickly searched the table just out of Klaus’s view. “There’s a pretty sharp knife here, middle of the table about three feet back. Want me to cut you out?” Ben asked, sounding slightly hopeful. He loved it when he could interact outside of the spiritual realm, and Klaus would love to let Ben have that, but there was more pressing matters. 

“No, I got it. Go to Diego.” He hissed, focusing hard and reaching out to grab the knife with his mind. Shakily the object flouted through the air to him, landing in his lap with a soft thud. Levitating things was so much easier when he actually knew what he was grabbing. Otherwise he had no idea what area of space to manipulate. 

“Your getting good at that.” Ben commented, but Klaus simply hissed at him to hurry up and get going. 

Ben disappeared within seconds, and Klaus would be lying if he said he wasn’t saddened at Ben’s absence. His brothers departure left him feeling twice as alone and helpless, but this was for the best. Diego needed to know. 

Klaus couldn’t let both of his brothers die because of him. 

He gripped the knife and bent his wrist backwards to saw at the bindings, wincing as he sliced a bit of his skin in the meantime. As soon as one hand was free he was immediately on the next, cutting through the rope easily, Jack had scarily sharp knives. 

He stood up, his legs wobbly and his chest aching from the recently healed gunshot wound. 

He didn’t want to think about that, branching into that specific area of his power was too far for him, made him flinch in fear. He remembered the feeling of being dead, the bleakness that surrounded him, the spirits still calling his name. He remembered slowly piecing himself together, stealing the bits and pieces of death around him to mend wounds and recreate the broken pieces of himself out of instinct. 

If he thought about it the parts of him created from death would ache and scream out in agony, the confusion of being altered and changed so easily into something it wasn’t. 

So instead he ran to the door, twisting open the doorknob and swinging it open. He crept into the hall, wishing more and more that Ben was there with him to guide him through the dark halls, tell him which way to go. 

He crept through what looked like a hotel hallway, where were they anyways? Ben hadn't mentioned it. The hallway was dimly lit, doors scattered around with various room numbers on the wall. Did Jack find a way to rent out an entire hotel just for him? Because no one else was there. 

He tried not to feel flattered. 

He found his way to the elevator, debating if it was worth going down the stairs or risking the elevator. He eventually chose the stairs, creeping down to the main floor to snoop around. 

It was actually a pretty nice place, with nice carpeting and pretty wallpaper. A lot nicer than any hotel he had ever stayed in. The main floor was huge the reception area abandoned and dark. Klaus wondered what time it was, it was late if the dark sky outside had anything to say. 

He eyed the door, wondering if it was worth it to just bolt and hope for the best. But Diego was in here, so was his partner. He couldn’t just leave them alone with Jack, stupid moral compass or something like that. 

There was suddenly a loud crash at the other side of the lobby, and Klaus rushed forwards without thinking, arriving at two large double doors and a plaque that read ‘ballroom’. 

“You shouldn’t go in there.” Someone whispered from behind him and he jumped, whirling to find a man around his age with his neck slit standing behind him. 

“Yeah? And what do you know?” He grumbled turning back and reaching for the doorknob again. 

“I know the man who killed me is in there, and he’s out for blood. I’m just trying to save your ass buddy.” The ghost replied, raising his arms in surrender. 

“Thanks for the thought but my brothers in there.” Klaus replied, stopping again to look at the ghost.

“Why do you have to play hero?” The ghost snarked, and Klaus sighed. 

“Because I’ve already played the victim and I want the bragging rights.” He replied, turning back to the door and slowly slipping it open. 

He crept in silently, taking in the scene before him. 

Jack and Diego were having a standoff, and what appeared to be another man in a suit laid on the ground, bleeding badly but not fully dead yet. Diego’s partner he guessed. 

Jack had his back to him, but Diego saw him and his eyes widened before he looked back at Jack, trying to not ruin his entrance. Thankfully, Ben was there too, and his form flickered out as he returned to Klaus’s side. 

“I warned them, but it was too late. He was waiting for them. I think he’s going to monologue then kill Diego so maybe you should interfere.” Ben updated, his eyes still glued to the scene. Klaus nodded, stepping forwards and trying to think of a plan. He wasn’t a very hostile person, to say the least so he had no clue how to go through with this. 

The most action he had ever got was in Vietnam, but he didn’t have a gun this time, just his own two hands and he started to wish he brought that knife along with him. Why could he be so stupid sometimes?

Before he could continue his train of thought, Jack flickered out of view, and before Klaus could react the man was standing behind him, a knife pressed against his throat. The cool metal digging into the soft flesh. 

“Klaus!” Diego cried out, raising his arm but not throwing his weapon quite yet. Klaus was glad of that, because Jack would easily split his throat before it got there, and he was standing in front of Jack and he really didn't want to get stabbed by Diego. 

“Neither of you move.” Jack hissed loudly, making Klaus flinch slightly, the knife slicing into his neck a tiny bit, making a bead of blood slip down his chest. Diego didn’t dare move, frozen to the spot. 

“I don’t want to do this Diego.” Jack called out, and Diego growled in reply. “I’ve grown quite attached to your brother these past few months, so I’d rather not kill him before his time.”

“Just let my brother go, he isn’t dangerous.” Diego called out, and Klaus knew it was true, but hey!

“I can’t let either of you go. Both of you are more dangerous than you know.” Jack relied, and there was a hint of hysterical terror in it. 

“We’re not going to hurt you. We just want to live our lives.” Diego said, taking a half a step closer, Jack tightened his grip against Klaus, hard hand digging painfully into his arm. Klaus let out a soft whimper without realizing it, and Diego stopped where he was. 

“You hurt everyone.” Jack hissed. “You may not want to, but you do. It’s in our nature, we can’t help it.” 

“That’s not true.” Diego started, frowning at the crazed rambles. At least he hadn’t had to listen to them for the better part of the day. Or however long he’s been held captive. The droning monologue got boring after awhile.

“Yes it is!” Jack yelled, his voice loud in Klaus’s ear. “You’ve killed people. Hell, even Klaus has. Your all just weapons. We are not human, just instruments of war.”

“Your insane.” Klaus said with a laugh, ignoring the way the knife dug deeper into his neck at the words as Jack growled. “Even more crazy than I am, and that’s saying something.” 

“Don’t be an idiot Klaus.” Ben hissed from the side, where he looked pretty concerned for him, he really cared, that was adorable. 

“Shut up.” Jack hissed. “You are only alive right now because I’m allowing you to be.” 

“No,” Klaus laughed again. “I’m alive because you don’t know how to kill me.”

“Okay, let’s just all calm down.” Diego said, trying to diffuse the situation. 

“No, I can’t calm down. Not until this is ended.” Jack replied, and Klaus rolled his eyes. 

“Until what is ended?” Diego asked. 

“Until every last one of you is dead, starting with you.” Jack hissed, letting go of Klaus and pushing him to the ground before Klaus could react, his knife slicking into the skin of Klaus’s neck and sending him sputtering. Jack ran towards Diego, who threw his knife at his with accuracy born to him. Klaus watched as Jack faded away and the knife traveled through him, embedding in the wall behind him. Diego’s eyes widened as he realized his only go to plan had failed. It was hard to stab something unstabable. 

Jack was getting closer, and Diego abandoned his knifes and put up his hands, hoping for some combat. The two men were tangled within seconds, blur of lashing arms and feet and the glint of knives. 

It wouldn’t work. Jack would win, no matter how good Diego was. Diego was going to get himself killed and Klaus was laying here on the ground uselessly, blood running down his neck. Images flashed of Ben’s dead body, Five disappearing without a trace, Diego laying on the ground, his neck slit as he stared at Klaus accusingly. Panic raised inside him, fear and anger and desperation rolling around his skin as he lunged forwards.

Not just with his body, but with his power. 

The world around him ripped and shifted, hundreds of dead coming into view for him as the two world collided, their forms mere shadows stumbling around, lost and terrified. And there was Jack, his entire being trapped between the world much like Klaus was. Not quite alive all the time, but nowhere close to dead. 

He could see the dark shadow inside Jack, twisting and turning and poisoning the air around him. It was similar to Diego’s, except his brothers was white and mostly untainted. Klaus reached out, wrapping his consciousness around the shadow of Jack. 

Then without thinking about what he was doing, he pulled. 

The ghost dislodged itself from Jacks physical body, fighting and twisting but Klaus held it fast, tearing it apart piece by piece. He could feel his own limbs aching with pain as his hands glowed a bright blue, draining his energy faster than it ever had. The darkness was dispelled into the room and Jack’s body fell to the ground, unmoving. Dead. 

Klaus fell back, his energy draining out of him and he placed a hand to his neck. The cut was shallow, hurt like a bitch but he would survive. He retracted his worn-out powers, the image of the dead and death disappearing as he forced it away. Diego ran towards him, his hands on his shoulders and looking oh so worried. 

“I’m fine, I’m fine.” He muttered, brushing away Diego’s hands. “Go check your partner, call an ambulance or something, he doesn’t have long.” 

Diego looked torn, like he didn’t want to leave Klaus laying there, but eventually he listened, darting over to his partners side. Klaus closed his eyes, finally allowing the sweep of exhaustion to run over him. 

“What the hell did you do to him?” Ben asked from where he hovered over him, reaching out as if to touch before pulling back. Klaus wanted nothing more than to collapse into his brothers’ arms, but he couldn’t afford the energy it took to make his brother solid. 

“Not quite sure.” Klaus admitted, staring at Jack’s body, who was laying on the ground, his eyes wide and unseeing. It made him feel sick. “But I think I might have pulled his ghost from his body.” 

“Jesus fuck, that’s awesome!” Ben laughed, and Klaus smiled weakly. 

“Yeah that is pretty badass huh.” He chuckled, shifting and groaning as his wounds pulled. 

“Hey, stay still, your worn out and injured.” Ben mothered, the smile on his face replaced with a frown. 

“Yeah, yeah. I’m going to go to sleep now.” He said. His eyelids feeling to heavy to keep open as he started to spiral into the sleeping world. 

“No, Klaus you got to stay awake.” Ben was saying, but Klaus did what he always did and ignored him, falling into the blissful dream state of nothingness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story is almost at the end, which is actually pretty sad because I love writing it. Would you guys like to see a sequel or something? Maybe just more of Diego and Klaus solving murders and stuff like that as they repair their relationship? More of the other siblings too? Because I could write something like that.


	14. Stay

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the aftermatch from DIego's perspective, next one will be from Klaus. Also, consensus seems to be we want a sequel, and I really want to write one too. So I will be working on a part two of this story as soon as this story is done!! Yay! 
> 
> (Also, it's worthy to note I know jack squat about all police duties so it's probably portrayed really badly in this chapter but honestly I really don't care at this point lmao.)

The lights from the ambulance and various police cars were starting to grate on Diego’s nerves. 

He sat on the steps outside of the hotel, holding an ice pack to the side of his head, where a single cut sat on his temple. A shock blanket was wrapped around him, like he was some kind of victim, but he was too worn out to really protest and instead let the comfortable weight rest on his shoulders. 

He was watching Klaus argue with a paramedic about his health, Diego wondered if maybe he should go over there and force his brother into medical, but he was already looking a lot better than he was. Klaus had passed out for close to ten minutes, leaving Diego alone with his passed-out brother and bleeding partner until the ambulance and back up finally arrived. 

Jake was rushed to the hospital, and Diego was definitely going to be by his side the second he got some sleep and was able to stand on his feet. Jake had already banned him from visiting him outside of visiting hours when he was injured. Diego figured he might as well listen to that rule for once. 

Klaus was finally released, walking over to Diego and taking the blanket off his shoulders to wrap it around himself. Diego held back the smile as his brother leaned into his side. 

“Is your partner going to be okay?” Klaus asked after a moment, and Diego nodded. 

“He’s a trooper, the paramedics said he’d be fine. Just need to stitch up the wound and maybe replace some of the blood. The asshole wasn’t looking to kill him, only us.” Diego told him, and Klaus nodded. 

“That asshole was my best client you know.” He said, looking over at Diego. “Came every month for a haircut, thought he was crazy. I had no idea.” 

“Huh.” Diego replied, kind of a loss for words. “What to do next?” He asked for a moment, looking over at his brother, who smiled cheekily at him. 

“Now we go home and sleep.” Klaus said, and Diego chuckled smiled. 

“God that sound heavenly. But I was talking about after that.” He said, the smile on his lips fading a bit. 

“What do you mean?” Klaus asked. 

“Are you going home?” Diego blurted out, making Klaus blink. “I mean home-home. Back to the rest of the family. I get it if you don’t, you have a life here. But I think they’d like to see you again, I mean they’ve been drowning in guilt for years. Again if you don’t that’s fine I totally get it.” He rambled and Klaus hit the back of his head to get him to shut up. 

“I’m not going home.” He said firmly, and Diego ignored the way his heart sank. “But, maybe I’d be able to afford a nice trip down there once in a while.”

Diego couldn’t help the grin that lit up his face, and Klaus laughed at him. 

“Oh you big puppy.” He chided, throwing an arm around his shoulder. “You can’t get rid of me that easily.” 

___________________________________

Five days later Jake was finally released from the hospital, Diego was by his side, and Klaus flouted in between them, keeping them both entertained. 

Jake was, well, enamored by Klaus for a lack of better words. Klaus’s eccentric behaviour and electrifying presence shocked the man a bit at the beginning, but the two of them quickly fell into a routine, teaming up against Diego to tell embarrassing stories and heckle him. 

Diego pretended that he was annoyed, but the sight of his best friend and brother getting along so well really made his spirits soar. 

But, as always, reality set in a few days later when Jake and Diego were called down to the LA precinct they were assisting in help finalizing paperwork and wrapping up the case. Diego’s least favourite part of being a police officer. 

Normally, back at their usual precinct, he was able to pawn all the paperwork on Jake, who sighed and just put up with it. Of course he was still stuck doing a lot of the work, but not as much as he had to do now. 

“This fucking sucks.” He complained for the fifth time that hour, ignoring Jake's glare. “Why is there so much writing that is needed to be done?”

“Because we went against protocol in the middle of the night and it ended up with a dead body and a civilian thrown into the mix. And also, you know it's standard procedure for solving a case?” Jake said for perhaps the hundredth time that day. Diego waved a dismissive hand at him. 

“That seems stupid, it all ended up fine in the end.” He pointed out. 

“Not really, if you got through the academy you would know that.” Jake said with a grin, dodging the pen Diego threw at him, it still pinged off the back of his head. 

“Low blow.” He muttered, causing Jake to laugh even harder. 

“Hargreeves! Lonsdale! Captain wants to see you.” One of the LA detectives, Officer Rideout, told them. The pair nodded, walking to the office in silence. Neither knew what to say. Were they in trouble? The captain had only seeked them out the first day they showed up to welcome them and run over the rules, and well, Diego kind of broke almost all of them.

Shit, he was going to get yelled at wasn't he? 

“Detectives, take a seat.” She told them, and both were quick to comply, sitting opposite to her. It reminded Diego of the movies when kids were called down to the principal office. “First, I would like to congratulate you on your during the Nickson case. Both of you made questionable choices during it, but it worked out in the end.” 

“Thank you Captain.” Jake said, and Diego fought back a smile at the praise. He still wasn’t used to people thanking him or praising him for things, every time he heard it his chest glowed with pride and happiness. THe relief hit too, he really was expecting to be yelled at, or worse.

“So, that’s why I would like to offer the both of you a position at the LAPD. We lost some of out best detectives to retirement earlier this year, and I know it’s a big offer, but the two of you would do a lot of good here.” The captain told them, and Diego had to blink away his shock. "We need detectives like you who take chances, who think outside of the box. I've already made up the forms to send to your captain should you accept."

A job offer at one of the best police departments in all of the United States? A chance at a fresh start concerning his police career? He wasn’t sure what to think. 

“Thank you Captain,” He said when he gathered himself. “Me and my partner will think about it.” 

“Thank you boys.” She said with a smile. “I’ll be here when you decide.” 

With that the two of them were dismissed, wandering back to their temporary desks in shock. 

“Well, what do you think about that?” Jake said with a laugh. “Jesus Hargreeves, my life has gotten so much more interesting with you around.” 

________________________

“Can you hear us?” Allison’s voice filtered through the laptop, her image slightly pixelated but there. “Is this working?”

“Yeah, I can see you.” Diego said with a soft smile, watching as Allison finally sat back, revealing the other two siblings, Luther and Vanya, sitting beside her. Five had a lecture and couldn’t make it apparently. 

“Diego!” Vanya said, a soft smile mirroring his. “How’s the trip? Solved the case yet?”

“I have.” He said, thinking back to the wild week he had gone through ever since Klaus’s kidnapping. “It’s nice out here, and well, the case was a wild one.” Understatement if you asked him. 

“I’m sure you did amazing.” Allison reassured him. “I’m glad your safe, I heard Jake got himself in a bit of trouble?”

“Yeah, he’s good though.” Diego said, thinking back to his partner and the complaints he dealt with today as they attempted their routine run earlier that morning. “Recovering nicely, just a shot to the shoulder, missed anything important.” 

“Good, when are you going to be coming home?” Luther asked, and Diego paused. 

How was he going to phrase this? Him and Jake had been talking a lot recently, mostly about the offer Captain Tonner gave them. Jake had no connections back at their city other than a cat and a family that didn’t want him. And Diego only had his family, but then again he had family here too. 

Together, the both of them agreed that this offer was something they couldn’t pass up. An option for both of them to get over their pasts and start new in a city untainted by memories. A chance for a new life, for more opportunities. 

How was he going to explain to his siblings that he wasn’t coming home? At least not for good, he had to go get his stuff of course, but otherwise? 

“I’m coming home in a week to gather my stuff.” He started, pausing to gauge the reactions. 

Luther blinked and furrowed his eyebrows, not quite getting what was going on. Allison had a similar reaction, but realization hit her sooner. And Vanya just nodded, like she understood. 

“Gathering up your stuff for what?” Allison asked, like she already knew the answer. 

“Jake and I got an offer to join the LAPD, we couldn’t pass it up. I’m moving out here as soon as I can.” He blurted out, waiting for his siblings’ final reactions. 

Allison’s face lit up, Luther smiled softly, and Vanya grinned at him. Diego felt a weight lift off his chest, his worries about his siblings being unsupportive dispelling almost immediately, it was sometimes astonishing how much they’ve changed in the last few years. 

“I’m so proud of you Diego! That’s amazing.” Allison gushed, sounding genuinely happy for him. “Do you need some money? Do you have a place to stay?”

“Thanks Ally, but I uh, I have someone who helped Jake and I get a great deal on an apartment.” Diego told her, his smile wobbling as his eyes flickered around the apartment he was sitting in. He really hoped he wasn’t going to get interrupted, but the possibility was high at this point. 

“Really? Who?” Vanya asked, and Diego opened his mouth to reply. 

Only to get cut off by the door behind him slamming open and Klaus himself waltzing in like he was summoned, his lips stretching into a smile as he gazed at the computer screen. 

“Oh!” He exclaimed, wrapping an arm around Diego’s shoulder and grinning at the camera like the little shit he was. “Why hello bitches! Long time no see.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What do you guys think about Diego and Jakes decision to stay in LA? I almost made Klaus go back with Diego and stay there but in the end I decided that Klaus would want to continue in the life he built for himself, although he will visit the rest of his siblings in part two:)


	15. Hug all your friends

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm planning for the next chapter to be the last one? Which is honestly kind of terrifying?
> 
> Also Klaus calls Diego a softie so much in this chapter and it makes me laugh.

Klaus’s life was back on track now. 

After the whole slight bump in the road that was Jack murdering five people, kidnapping him and then attempting to murder his brother, life got on pretty smoothly. 

Diego alternated between staying at the motel when he was feeling angsty, Jake's hospital room when wanting to spend time with his partner, and sometimes he just came to stay in Klaus’s apartment to sit and watch over his brother. 

The two siblings lived in a half truce. 

Sure, there was ill words between them, but also the trauma of the recent situation reminded the two of them exactly what being siblings was about. It was about hating each other at times but also willing to do anything for them. It was harsh words with underlying softness hidden under it. 

So the two of them coexisted, swinging between complete silences and rambles that filled up the rooms. Harsh words shot in jabs neither really meant and then going right back to making sure the other was okay. A language only the two of them could perfect. 

Was it healthy? Hell no. Klaus knew they should talk, work out the skeletons in the closet so they could move on, but it worked. And that was all he needed. His brother there, willing to put in an effort for him. Because he knew deep down that Diego cared about him, wanted to repair their relationship. Hell, he even put up the the ridiculous puns and jokes Klaus and Jake threw his way. Jake told him it was because Diego was secretly a big softie. 

He couldn't help but agree.

_________________

Now, Klaus didn’t actually expect to walk in on Diego video chatting his siblings, but it was Klaus’s apartment so Diego had to be expecting it. Klaus had just gotten back from a coffee date and wasn’t expecting to see three of his siblings on the screen, but he ran with it either way. 

To say the silence after his entrance was a bit long was an understatement. He almost worried that the video lost connection before Luther finally managed to stammer out a reply. 

“Klaus?” He asked, almost like he was the one who could see ghosts. 

“One and only brother dear, how’s life treating you?” He asked smoothly, pushing down the rampage of thoughts crashing over his mind. He could see Ben in the corner of his eye, looking half worried half disappointed and it felt so familiar it helped calm his nerves. 

“I-“ Luther started, before his sentence fell off again and he gaped like a fish. Allsion looked like she was about to start crying, emotion tugging at her facial expression, and ouch. Vanya, on the other hand, was crying, tears running down her face, and ouch times two.

“Loss for words?” He teased, pushing the tears and guilt and relief down his throat and covering it up with humor and stupid jokes because that’s what he was told to do. “I tend to inspire that feeling.” 

“I’m sorry.” Luther blurted out, and okay, that was unexpected. Now it was Klaus's turn to be at a loss for words, which Luther unfairly used to his advantage. “I was a dick and I didn’t mean what I said and I’m so god damn sorry Klaus.” 

Klaus wasn’t sure how to respond. He wouldn’t lie, it was everything he had been looking to hear for a long time. His brother apologizing, finally realizing that sometimes what he thinks is right always isn’t. 

“I’m sorry too.” Allison cut in, her voice sounding thick. “I doubted you and you didn’t deserve that. I should have believed in you.”

“It’s not your fault.” He tried weakly, dislodging himself from where he was still hanging off of Diego’s neck, instead choosing to sit next to him like a normal human being. He hated seeing his siblings like this, he liked it more when they were yelling at him instead of crying because of him. “I-I did some fucked up things too. Gave you all no reason to trust me. I stole, I was addicted and I didn’t try to get better. I don’t really blame you guys anymore, I’ve had a lot of time to think.” 

His siblings were silent at that, Allison’s arm snaking its way around Vanya’s trembling shoulders. 

“Still,” Luther said, sounding like he was about to scold him. “Maybe you didn’t give us a reason, but I-I shouldn’t have acted the way I did. You’re my brother Klaus, that should be enough.” 

Klaus felt the tear sting his eyes, the words _”You’re my brother.”_ ringing through his ears. It’s all he had ever wanted, a family. 

“You have no idea what it was like.” He found himself admitting, wrapping his arms around himself and his fingers snaked out to grab his dog tags, the familiar metal digging into his skin and grounding him. “None of you believed what I said, thought of me worthless for something I couldn’t control. You put me down and I sort of deserved it for the amount of times I screwed you over. But you guys were grade A assholes.” 

He felt a tear run down his cheek and he angrily wiped it off. 

“I was,” Luther spoke up again, and man the big guy was really shocking Klaus a lot today huh? Actually admitting that he made a mistake? A lot could happen in a year once the poor guy was free of their fathers’ clutches. “I thought what I was doing was right, tried to convince myself that I was better because Dad told me so. But I’m not. And you didn’t deserve me condescending you like that. And, well, I missed you.” 

Fuck Klaus was starting to cry even more and he hated this. Hated how glad he was that Luther had finally seemed to accept him for the first time since they were thirteen years old. Hell, a few days ago he still despised his siblings, resented them for the absolute agony they forced him through. 

But now, looking at them, he found it hard to connect these new people to the condescending assholes they were a year ago. All of them had changed so much over the year, and Klaus hated how much that hurt hi to think about.

“I’m clean now!” He exclaimed with a watery smile, seeking a bit more praise from his siblings. “I’ve been clean for the better part of the year, nice and sober and I’ve been doing good! You’d be proud. I built a life, I’m not just a junkie anymore. You can be proud of me now.” 

There was a long silence, one long enough that it made the grin on Klaus’s face falter again. All four- five if you counted Ben- of his siblings were watching him with various faces of pity or heartbreak. 

“We should’ve been proud of you to begin with.” Allison finally said. “You shouldn’t have needed to prove yourself to us.” 

“But I did.” He pressed, why couldn’t they just take it? Sure, he was still pissed at them, he wasn’t going to let them off easily, but he was no saint either. “I was a crappy person, still am, but I’m better. That’s something right?”

“So we were both in the wrong.” Luther says before Allison can reply again, taking control of the situation easily. “But that still leads to the fact that I’m sorry. We all are.” 

“I thought you were dead.” Vanya’s soft voice filtered through, and Klaus’s heart torn open a bit more. “We all, god Klaus.” She cut herself off, pressing her palm to her mouth to cut off the sob. He wanted to hug her, to comfort her, reassure her that he wasn’t dead. 

“Let us fix it.” Allison muttered, clutching Vanya close to her again. She looked up into the camera, like she was memorizing Klaus’s face. “This isn’t a conversation we should have over a screen. Come home? Even for just a little while?” She looked so hopeful, and Klaus kind of hated himself for the way he hesitated, fear coating the back of his throat like ash, like the cheapest brandy he used to drink like water. 

Did he want to see them? Take the risk of becoming the useless brother again? The fuck up, the liability, the one no one trusted or cared about? Could he stand facing the nightmare once again? Falling back into the past after finally breaking off all ties wasn’t ideal, but he wanted to see his siblings. 

He wanted to hug Vanya, wanted to spend time with Allison and get a makeover, wanted to find out just how far this new Luther was in his self control, wanted to annoy Five again. He wanted his family. 

“You could come with me when I go to gather my stuff,” Diego muttered, a soft hand landing on his arm. Klaus looked over at him, surprised to see the soft overtone to his brown eyes. “Then we could come back. A week there top.”

Klaus had never been more grateful for the absolute softie his brother was. 

“Awe, Diego you sound concerned for me!” He said, teasing his brother like usual, but letting a small amount of gratitude filter through his eyes. Diego scoffed, the heavy hand disappearing and Klaus almost mourned the loss. Almost. 

“I guess I’ll be seeing you assholes in a week! You better have a crap ton of waffles for me, that’s the only apology I’ll accept.” He told them, his eyes now dry and his faulty mask back on his face. “Until then, tschüss!” 

With that he reached out and ended the call, ignoring the way Diego lightly slapped the back of his head. 

“I wasn’t done yet asshole.” He grumbled, yet Klaus could hear the fondness hidden deep inside. What a big softie.

“I had to be dramatic.” Klaus told him, getting up off the couch and wandering into the kitchen, his mind evilly telling him to find the beer he knew Diego stashed in the top cabinet where he thought Klaus wouldn’t find out. He ignored the temptation after Ben sent him a particularly harsh glare, instead grabbing himself a diet coke.

Diego and his partner Jake, who Klaus practically adored talking to, had been staying in Klaus’s apartment until his landlord could clear up the above rooms for the two of them to rent out. They alternated between the guest room and the couch, although both of them seemed adamant about being massive pains in his ass. 

Jake was currently out shopping, finding them some food that wasn’t leftovers from random fast food places Klaus tended to go to. Diego and him had their afternoons cleared, and Klaus decided he didn’t really like that idea. 

He needed a distraction to stop his mind from wandering to his past, to stop the self deprecating thoughts from emerging from the depths. 

“Bowling,” He tells Diego, a sly grin on his face. “Thoughts?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Say what you must, but I honestly love Luther's character. Yeah, I get really fed up with him a lot, but I relate to him so much and I just had to make him a good brother again. You'll see more about his changes in the sequel. Because the siblings still need to get their dressing down for their past actions and get to know this new version of Klaus and let Klaus get to know them.


	16. This is Home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is it everyone! The final chapter of this story!
> 
> Honestly words can't describe how much I love you all. You guys have supported me throughout this fic so much and I am honestly blow away by the low this fic gained. For those who have been with me for the entire ride, I love and appreciate you guys so much and all your comments have made me smile so much. And for those who read this without commenting, or haven't been here since the start, you are all amazing and I love you so much too. Every reader is amazing and you are all the best!!
> 
> So with that being said, I'm sorry for the slightly depressing chapter I was listening to Mary by Big Thief and it made me write angst. But it gets better! And the sequel to this story should be up within days! I'm about to have a busy week though so be patient with me. Now I need to stop rambling lmao sorry, go read the gosh darn story.

Klaus’s life wasn’t ever on track. 

That was something he knew was true. He could pretend that whatever he was doing was good, was enough, but it wasn’t. 

It just wasn’t. 

He had been suffering from nightmares ever since his abduction, just like he had been for his entire life, but this time they were joined by images of Diego dead, Jack’s mocking laugh telling him he was too late. The rest of his siblings, tied up and dead, their empty eyes staring at him, accusing him for not being better. 

It made him wake up with tears in his eyes and a scream at the base of his throat, his haywire emotions causing things to flout off of surfaces and everything to take a blueish hue. Ben was always there to calm him down, to talk him out of the panic he worked himself into, but sometimes it wasn’t enough. 

Some nights he couldn’t control his powers and he would sit there for hours in the dark, flouting uselessly in the air as the sounds of hundreds of the dead screamed his name. He was unable to push them away, shove them back into the spirit world and pull himself firmly into the land of the living. 

The worst nights were when he dreamed of Jack’s voice, haunting him, dreamed of the gunshot to the chest. Then he would wake up and physically see Jack in the room with him, his ghost mangled and flying apart at the seams but still there, screaming at him until Klaus was strong enough to shove him far away from the physical world.

It was enough to make him want to relapse, to find the closest dealer and numb it all so he could risk going to sleep and not worry about seeing his dead siblings, not worry about waking up and having to deal with his out of whack powers. Ben talked him out of it every time though.

Some nights he called Diego, his mind caught somewhere between reality and dreams, unsure about if his brother was truly still alive. His brother would answer the phone, half asleep, and Klaus would just hang up, too ashamed to admit his fear. 

He didn’t want to be the cry baby his father thought he would, the one who couldn’t deal with his powers or emotions. He had Ben, that was more than enough. 

Diego never asked about it when he showed up at his door the next day, only helped Klaus make breakfast in silence. 

Of course this became a lot harder when both Jake and Diego sort of moved into his house for the week, when he couldn’t scream out loud and couldn’t cry loudly or throw objects with his mind to help deal with the pure output of power that pulsed when he was freaking out. Somehow he managed to deal with it nothingless. 

He knew Diego guessed something was up, but he kept putting out the lies, kept up his eccentric behaviour to cover the fact that his nights were spent either wide awake or terrified. 

They let this song and dance go on until three days before they left to go back home. Back to the mansion which was filled with memories of abuse and terror and Klaus regretted agreeing to go. 

Then one night it all changed, starting with a nightmare. 

Klaus woke up with a small scream, his hand slapping over his mouth so he wouldn’t wake up the other two men sleeping in his apartment. Images still flashed behind his eyes, blood, gore, slit necks, ghosts reaching out for him, the cold walls of the mausoleum, Dave dying in his arms. 

He choked back a sob, his hands flying up to cover his mouth to muffle the noise. Tear poured out his eyes, wetting his cheeks as he silently cried. 

Ben was in front of him, hovering with that motherly look in his eyes, his teeth worrying his lips as he waited for Klaus to look up at him. 

“It’s going to be okay. Just breath Klaus.” Ben murmured, wishing more than anything to touch and sooth his brother, but not wanting to startle him. “You’re in your apartment, Jake and Diego are in the room next door. Your safe.” 

Klaus closed his eyes, waving Ben away. Ben shut up, knowing the right time when to talk to Klaus and when to let his brother have his time to just sit and get himself under control. The two of them basked in the silence, Ben silent as the dead and Klaus trying to control his erratic breathing, the tears running down his cheeks. 

“Klaus?” Someone said from the door, and Klaus jumped as Diego pushed the door open, faint light entering the dark room. He was secretly grateful for it, because the dark made the ghosts- both literal and figurative- fade from his view. 

“Hey Dee, bit early for you to be up.” He said weakly. Diego snorted, closing the door and slipping into the room, sitting beside Klaus before he could protest. 

“I heard you scream.” He said lowly, his voice cutting through the darkness, and Klaus bit his lip, looking away from his brother again. 

“Talk to me.” Diego said, reaching out and placing his hand on Klaus’s shoulder. He tried not to flinch, tried not to think about Diego lying on the ground, bleeding out because Klaus wasn’t quick enough to save him. He failed, his entire body tensing under the touch.

Diego felt the reaction, and immediately pulled back, and they lapsed back into painful silence. 

“It’s nothing. Go to sleep.” He eventually muttered, and Diego sighed. 

“Nah, I’ll just sit here until you tell me what’s bothering you.” Diego threatened, and Klaus felt a small pocket of anger rush over him, filling him up before it dispelled as easily as it came. He really couldn’t be mad at Diego for worrying about him. 

Not when he was so easy to worry about, when he kept getting himself into incredibly stupid situations and not wanting to get out of them. Diego had always worried, and half the time Klaus deserved it. 

“Just a dream.” He replied, hoping he would drop it. He just wanted to go out and get some coffee or something. 

“Is this about going home?” Diego asked, always an asshole who can figure out exactly what was bothering him. 

“Just a dream.” He repeated firmly. 

“I’ll be there the entire time, you don’t need to be worried.” Diego continued. 

Klaus laughed hollowly. 

“What? Because you always stood up for me? I distinctly remember you sitting silently, telling me that I haven’t been sober since I was thirteen.” He hissed, watching in sick satisfaction as Diego pulled away. 

“I-I know.” Diego stuttered, and Klaus was empty again, anger draining out of him once again. He was just so tired, so annoyed that the perfect life he tried to build had been ruined. “I’m sorry, I know I’m really bad at all this.” 

Klaus laughed, understatement really. They were both really bad at this. Emotionally repressed adults waddling in a world they had no clue how to exist in. 

“But I want to try.” Diego said. “I’m worried, and scared, and I want to make things better. So let me.” 

And how could Klaus tell him no? 

So he sat there in the dark and told Diego everything, the nightmares, the worries, his stress. He told his brother everything, and Diego sat and listened as he cried, listened as Klaus broke down. 

Then Diego leaned forwards and pulled Klaus into his arms, and man Klaus had missed this. Had missed his siblings. Had missed Diego. 

They were both broken toddlers stumbling around pretending to be adults, but they could do it together, start this new chapter of their lives as brothers who had each others back. And Klaus would go home and face his siblings, hope that he could have that with them too. 

____________________________________

Klaus had never been on an airplane. 

Never, and he was positively terrified. 

The thing was giant, and he was suppose to trust the fact that it could defy gravity and stay in the air? Sounded like a ploy for people to die horribly in plane crashes. 

“Seriously? Your scared of planes?” Jake said from beside him, looking almost like he was hoping Klaus was kidding. “Dude I’ve watched you almost jump in front of a bus because your dead sibling bet that you wouldn't. And your scared of planes?”

“In my defense I can’t resist a bet.” Klaus grumbled, glaring at both Jake and Ben. 

“I bet you that you can’t survive the entire plane ride without freaking out.” Diego said without raising an eye from his magazine. 

Klaus threw a piece of gum at him, the small smirk on Diego’s lips making him wish he could smack it off of him. But Jake was sitting in the middle of them so he refrained.

“Come on Klaus,” Diego said with a laugh. “Planes are easy, you’ll forget all about your fear as soon as your up in the air.” 

“Says the man afraid of needles.” Klaus shot back, and Jake let out a startled laugh. 

“Your scared of needles?” He asked Diego, a shit eating grin on his face. 

“Wait, you’ve been partnered with him for almost a year and you had no clue?” Klaus asked, and Diego glared him down. He ignored it with practice ease. “Oh the stories I can tell you.” 

“You say a word and you will regret it.” Diego warned, but Klaus only grinned. Jake leaned closer to him. 

“You’re so going to tell me everything.” He stage whispered, and the two of them cracked up as Diego practically growled at them. 

Then the plane started moving, and Klaus was back to being terrified. 

“Come on bro, just breath, once we’re in the air you’ll be fine.” Diego said again, looking up from his magazine with slight concern in his eyes. 

“In my defense, Ben also hated planes.” He told them, and Ben, who was sitting in the aisle beside Diego, snorted. 

“I am perfectly fine with planes. Never been afraid of them.” He told him, and Klaus nodded and Diego and Jake without even looking at Ben. 

“He despises them, just told me so.” He said sincerely, ignoring the few colorful words his ghostly brother uttered his way.

“Yeah okay.” Diego said, but he nudged Jake slightly with his foot, and the two of them shared a look.

Klaus couldn’t even be mad at the two of them for conspiring against him as Jake launched into some random story of a case Diego and him solved a while back, taking Klaus’s mind off the speed and rumble of the plane under him. 

Soon they were in the sky, and Klaus breathed a sigh of relief, his hands not leaving where they were painfully clenched onto the armrest though. 

“You excited to go home?” Jake asked, and Diego tensed up, his eyes flickering to Klaus’s.

Klaus only smiled. 

“I can’t wait.” 

And it was true, he was flying towards new beginnings, new relationships, new siblings. He was excited, content. 

Who knows, maybe him and Diego would solve some cases in the future, it gave him a wonderful opportunity to continue being a pain in the ass for his older- in spirit- brother. 

Klaus closed his eyes, surrounded by his brothers and new friend, and he felt content. Maybe this would work out after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for reading!


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